2009 Domaine La Quilla Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Sur Lie

Daniel and Gerard Vinet's 2009 Muscadet de Sevre et Maine Sur Lie confirms the consistency of the Quilla cuvee that comes to the U.S. and allays any concerns that the warm 2009 vintage might have pushed them even further in the direction of some recent (for Muscadet) relatively high-alcohol if still excellent renditions from this address. Here there is a lovely aura of levity and refreshment that are all-Muscadet, with lemon, herb, oyster (flesh, brine, and shell!), and subtly chicken stock-like flavors slightly reminiscent of Chablis. Yet there is also that certain crystalline sense of saline minerality so hard to capture in words but so inimitably of this appellation. The presence of an alkaline and prominently bitter element in the finish - taken together with a certain austerity that I frankly find appealing - may not be everybody's cup of Melon. This cuvee should be enjoyed over the next couple of years. (For another Vinet property, see under 'Domaine Saint Martin.') Imported by Robert Kacher Selections, Washington, DC; tel. (202) 832-9083