2021 Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Briords Vieilles Vignes

Notes from the importer, Andrew Guard...
First produced in 1988, this great Muscadet is made from a three hectare parcel of old massale-selection vines (all over 60 years old, with a high percentage much older) on a slope above the Maine. The bedrock is Granite de Château Thébaud, a fissured rock that allows the vines to penetrate deeply, with ideal thin topsoils of clay, with sand and gravel allowing good drainage. "We had a very small harvest following the spring frost of 2021. This severe frost had two consequences: few bunches being present on the vine, it had no stress or problem "feeding" these grapes. The other important point is that the frost created a long delay in the growth of vegetation. In 2021 the harvest started late on September 16 - If it hadn't been for this frost, the harvest would probably have started at the end of August. For all the wines, and in particular Briords, this translates into a slower maturity of the grapes allowing a greater conversation of acidities (lower acidity in the finished wine). In the end, the Briords 2021 is, in our eyes, a very nice vintage qualitatively but which we do not wish to have again because quantitatively it is very, very tiny!" Gwénaëlle and Rémi. Indeed, the 2021 Briords shows aromas that are a bit riper than usual - very elegant pear, stone, almond and citrus. The palate shows a bit less weight than the 2020, but still has a beautiful core of minerals and firm acidity below subtle pear, apple, lemon, stone and earth flavours, with a bright, scintillating finish.