Winemaker Notes
Located in the heart of the Appellation Muscadet Côtes de Grandlieu, the Domain du Haut Bourg was built by four generations of winegrowers. The first vine was planted in 1945, and today, the surface of the vineyard reaches 40 hectares.
The vineyard is entirely located in the town of Bouaye. The soil mainly contains micaschiste, granit and sand. It gives good balance and richness to the wines. The lac de Grandlieu (south), the Loire river (north) and the low altitude (from 15 to 25 meters) create a microclimat characterized by low temperature differences between day and night. This phenomenon allows an early harvest.
The Pays Nantais, Loire’s only region abutting the Atlantic coast, is solely focused on the Melon de Bourgogne grape in its handful of subzones: Muscadet-Sèvre et Maine, Muscadet-Coteaux de la Loire and Muscadet-Côtes de Grandlieu. Muscadet wines are dry, crisp, seaside whites made from Melon de Bourgogne and are ideal for the local seafood-focused cuisine. (They are not related to Muscat.) There is a new shift in the region to make these wines with extended lees contact, creating fleshy and more aromatic versions.
Made famous in Muscadet, a gently rolling, Atlantic-dominated countryside on the eastern edge of the Loire, Melon de Bourgogne is actually the most planted grape variety in the Loire Valley. But the best comes from Muscadet Sèvre et Maine, a subzone of Pays Nantais. Somm Secret—The wine called Muscadet may sound suggestive of “muscat,” but Melon de Bourgogne is not related. Its name also suggests origins in Burgundy, which it has, but was continuously outlawed there, like Gamay, during the 16th and 17th centuries.