2014 Muscadet-Sèvre et Maine Château-Thébaud Jardin d’Edouard
£19.50
Old vines on granite. Three years on the lees.
“Smells of pears pressed into warm wax. Tastes of baked apples at first, tiny droplets of melted beeswax, chamomile. Then it starts to gently, slowly crescendo: lemon rind dipped in elderflower syrup, oyster shells dipped in matcha tea, green apples and baking spice. There’s an almost-not-there bite of something green and fierce, like wasabi. There’s a firm cold press of texture, like the flat blade of a knife against your cheek. Startlingly young and alive and with its whole life still ahead. Whoever started the ubiquitous persuasion that Muscadet is a simple, fresh wine for oysters needs a hiding. If ever there is a fine wine that the whole world is overlooking, Muscadet is it.”