Château de la Gravelle, Melon de Bourgogne, Muscadet Sur Lie, Loire Valley, France 2020

Château de la Gravelle's Muscadet Sèvre et Maine is a classic wine of the region with much body and liveliness. It is best served with shellfish such as lobster and crawfish, and most other seafood as well. It is also highly enjoyable on its own as an aperitif. Because of its structure, it goes well with buttery dishes.

The wine is vinified on its lees, or “sur lie.”  The lees, or dead yeast cells, is the result of natural sedimentation of the solid elements of the wine. After alcoholic fermentation, the wine rests on its lees throughout the winter until bottling at the end of March. It is never racked, which allows the conservation of a small quantity of carbon dioxide, giving the wine a fine beading — a exquisite quality appreciated by connoisseurs.

Château de la Gravelle spans 15 hectares and is located in the town of Gorges, France in the heart of the Sèvre et Maine appellation. The estate, managed by Véronique Günther Chéreau, is home to buildings that date back to Louis XIII, including its classic windmill (featured on the bottle label) which is a typical feature of the Nantes region.

The vineyards have a unique soil structure composed of volcanic rock (or gabbro), shale, and other sedimentary rock, a feature that gives the resulting wines their elegance and exceptional bouquet. Starting in 2010, the estate converted to an organic operation, and continues to employ organic methods to this day.