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2020 Vin de France Blanche
Domaine Michel BrégeonIf you’re not familiar with Folle Blanche, don’t fret. This typically lean, bright variety is most notable for its use in the making of spirits such as Armangac and Cognac. Here, however, the grapes are macerated for three weeks. The resulting skin-contact wine is redolent of blood orange and hyssop—a perfect apéritif for olives and anchovies.
—Allyson Noman
Wine Type: | white |
Vintage: | 2020 |
Bottle Size: | 750mL |
Blend: | Folle Blanche |
Appellation: | Vin de France |
Country: | France |
Region: | Loire |
Producer: | André-Michel Brégeon |
Winemaker: | Fred Lailler |
Vineyard: | 40 years average, 10 ha total |
Soil: | Gabbro |
Farming: | Organic (certified) |
Alcohol: | 9% |
More from this Producer or Region
2018 Muscadet Sèvre et Maine “Gorges”
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2022 Chinon Rosé
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2020 Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Clisson “La Molette”
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A subtly floral nose and textured mouthfeel seal the deal. This is off-the-charts Muscadet.
2022 Grolleau “Franc de Pied”
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Brambly berries and lifted floral notes combine with an earthy coolness and touch of spice in this red whose low alcohol level makes it even easier to fervently slurp down.
2021 Vin de France Blanche
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This skin-contact wine is redolent of blood orange and hyssop—a perfect apéritif for olives and anchovies.
2019 Chinon “Clos du Chêne Vert”
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Chinons from Joguet are known for their firm minerality, but this one is quite charming as well, with plummy black fruit, myrtle, and notes of warm licorice.
2022 Jasnières
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Racy, slightly honeyed, exotically perfumed, and loaded with minerality, this wine is an excellent representation of how Chenin reacts to the local conditions.
2022 Vouvray
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Gentle and refreshing on the palate, it boasts a delightful balance of stony minerality with luscious, almost honeyed fruit and flowery notes.
2022 Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Sur Lie
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It fills the mouth with suspicions of honeysuckle and pulpy stone fruits, all while maintaining classic notes of iodine and sea breeze that make this the vinous equivalent of tidepooling.
2022 Vin de France Rouge “Le Martray”
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The new vintage shows great freshness and brightness, making me think of tart berries picked in the forest just a touch below full ripeness.
About The Producer
André-Michel Brégeon
Michel Brégeon is part renegade, part crusader, and full-blown terroirist, ardently defending the Muscadet-Sèvre-et-Maine terroir. Thanks to his deep understanding of the land, he plays the game much differently than the region’s caves cooperatives and negociants, who produce en masse and lose the subtlety of the appellation. He worked for his family’s domaine before setting out on his own in 1975. When his father retired in 1989, he gave his remaining vineyard land to Michel. Today, Michel farms seven hectares of vineyards in clay, silica, and gabbro soils. Gabbro is old, blue-green, volcanic rock, rarely found in vineyard land. Formed by magma eruptions under the ocean floor, it imparts intense complexity to Michel’s wines.
About The Region
Loire
The defining feature of the Loire Valley, not surprisingly, is the Loire River. As the longest river in France, spanning more than 600 miles, this river connects seemingly disparate wine regions. Why else would Sancerre, with its Kimmeridgian limestone terroir be connected to Muscadet, an appellation that is 250 miles away?
Secondary in relevance to the historical, climatic, environmental, and cultural importance of the river are the wines and châteaux of the Jardin de la France. The kings and nobility of France built many hundreds of châteaux in the Loire but wine preceded the arrival of the noblesse and has since out-lived them as well.
Diversity abounds in the Loire. The aforementioned Kimmderidgian limestone of Sancerre is also found in Chablis. Chinon, Bourgueil, and Saumur boast the presence of tuffeau, a type of limestone unique to the Loire that has a yellowish tinge and a chalky texture. Savennières has schist, while Muscadet has volcanic, granite, and serpentinite based soils. In addition to geologic diversity, many, grape varieties are grown there too: Cabernet Franc, Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, and Melon de Bourgogne are most prevalent, but (to name a few) Pinot Gris, Grolleau, Pinot Noir, Pineau d’Aunis, and Folle Blanche are also planted. These myriad of viticultural influences leads to the high quality production of every type of wine: red, white, rosé, sparkling, and dessert.
Like the Rhône and Provence, some of Kermit’s first imports came from the Loire, most notably the wines of Charles Joguet and Château d’Epiré—two producers who are featured in Kermit’s book Adventures on the Wine Route and with whom we still work today.
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2020 Chinon “Les Petites Roches”
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2021 Vin de France Blanche
Domaine Michel Brégeon France | Loire
2022 Val de Loire Sauvignon Blanc “Unique”
Domaine du Salvard France | Loire
1989 Vouvray “Bois Guyon”
Catherine & Pierre Breton France | Loire
2022 Chinon Blanc
Bernard Baudry France | Loire
2022 Anjou Rouge “Clos de la Cerisaie”
Château d'Epiré France | Loire
2020 Saumur Blanc “L’Échelier”
Thierry Germain France | Loire
2021 Bourgueil “Cuvée Alouettes”
Domaine de la Chanteleuserie France | Loire
2022 Chinon Rosé
Bernard Baudry France | Loire
2022 Saumur Blanc “L’Insolite”
Thierry Germain France | Loire
2021 Sancerre “Les Cris”
Daniel Chotard France | Loire
2022 Bourgueil Rosé
Domaine de la Chanteleuserie France | Loire
2020 Chinon “Les Petites Roches”
Charles Joguet France | Loire
2021 Vin de France Blanche
Domaine Michel Brégeon France | Loire
2022 Val de Loire Sauvignon Blanc “Unique”
Domaine du Salvard France | Loire
Kermit once said...
Kermit once said...
I want you to realize once and for all: Even the winemaker does not know what aging is going to do to a new vintage; Robert Parker does not know; I do not know. We all make educated (hopefully) guesses about what the future will bring, but guesses they are. And one of the pleasures of a wine cellar is the opportunity it provides for you to witness the evolution of your various selections. Living wines have ups and downs just as people do, periods of glory and dog days, too. If wine did not remind me of real life, I would not care about it so much.
Inspiring Thirst, page 171