Volatize This: A Springy Fresh Bottle of Loire Bubbles
Look at that label- I love that little guy.
This bottle put a little spring in my step, so I thought it a perfect profile for this time of year. Spring is peeking its little head around the corner and (finally) awakening our senses with warm whiffs of fresh flowers and budding greens- yay! It’s about time. I say this every year, but the fact of the matter is, winter is just too long. On second thought, maybe I just live on the wrong latitudinal line. Hmmm. In any case, I’ve found the perfect bottle to pair with your spring.
Fizzy-Lifting Bubbles
Found in the darling little Charleston coffee and wine bar, The Daily, both the label (always a sucker for a good label- who says you can’t judge a book by its cover, sometimes you very well can) and the region (Muscadet in the Loire) sold me on this bottle of bubbly.
A self-proclaimed Acid Queen, I love pretty much any and everything from the Loire Valley, it might be the most perfect wine region. Because of its terroir, temps and generally speaking, lack of over-manipulation (because Loire winemakers are old school), the Loire Valley turns out some killer food wines bursting with racy acidity and terrific minerality. Bonus- they’re almost always a steal, especially when compared to their Champagne and Burgundy neighbors, but even sans comparison, you can almost always score a great bottle from the Loire for under $20.
This bright bottle of bubbly boasts delicious notes of citrus- lime and meyer lemon with a hint of bitter almond (in the best way) on the finish. It has a bit of those rich brioche-y notes from the méthode traditionnelle (the traditional method of Champagne-making where the wine rests on its yeasts for a good period of time, soaking up those bread-ful notes and turning them into delightful toastiness). Showing off its classic Loire minerality as well, drinking this bubbly is quite like sipping on wet stones. How would I know what exactly that might taste like? No clue. Let’s just go with it: sipping stones- it really does taste like that, take my word for it.
Jo Landron, a Loire legend.
Let’s talk about the winemaker here. Jo Landron, an original winemaking hipster (just look at that twirl-worthy ‘stache and lumberjack jacket- the kids today only wish), is legendary in the Loire, making sure that his Muscadets- both bubbly and still, taste of their terroir, not of his hand. He stays out of the way as much as possible to let the land and fruit tell their story. At 20% Pinot Noir and 80% Folle Blanche, this bubbly is lip-smackingly delicious, a great deal, and an awesome food wine.
*PAIR WITH: Most anything light and lean- maybe a whole grilled fish with lots of lime, a spring kale caesar salad, smoked trout crostini with radishes (I love this recipe), and of course oysters- it is a Muscadet, afterall people. We drank our bottle with some seared scallops and a bit of tomato and shallot jam (recipe via Zero George Street’s Vinson Petrillo)- crazy good.
Cin Cin y’all.
Check it:
Atmospheres by Jo Landron, $18
{Landron photo by Wine Terroirs}
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