Domaine Michel Bregeon 2024 Muscadet Sevre et Maine Sur Lie, Loire Valley

The Melon de Bourgogne for this bone dry Muscadet come from vines ranging from 4-65 years old, thus combining feisty youth with the complexity that you get from older vines. This is another one of those wines that have been here since we opened and it continues to offer traditional Muscadet, in all of its flinty, stony goodness, for such a great price. Bring on the oysters and assorted shellfish!

Founded by Michel Brégeon and run today by Fred Lailler, this historic domaine helped to redefine Muscadet as we know it thanks to Michel's crusading efforts throughout his career.  Though Muscadet (made from the Melon de Bourgogne grape) has been commonly known to produce young, fresh wines, (even those that spend a few months sur lie), Michel broke the mold, keeping some of his wines on the lees for as much as seven years! These wines are aged in subterranean glass-lined cuves, as local tradition dictates, and while they always drink well upon release, they have a proven track record of aging. The unexpected freshness and depth of these older wines has silenced many a skeptic. An older wine from Brégeon has similarities to aged Chablis, gaining in weight while developing an earthy, mineral bouquet of surprising complexity.

Though Michel retired after the 2010 vintage, the domaine’s legacy lives on with the young vigneron, and Muscadet native, Fred Lailler. Since taking over from Michel, Fred has continued the Brégeon ethic of producing serious, terroir-driven Muscadet of great complexity and aging potential. He has even completed an organic conversion for the domaine's vineyards—a rare feat in a region still dominated by high-yielding, intensive viticulture. Tasting a Muscadet from Domaine Brégeon is enough to convince anyone of the caliber of a terroir like Gorges, and proof that the region is capable of much more than the simple quaffer.  Just 3750 cases made each year.