Hello Wine Lovers,
Yes, a maritime environment can add a briny or mineral flavor to wine. The Nantais (Nantais or Pays Nantais also know as Muscadet) region of the Loire Valley in northern France is a marine environment and wines from this region can have salty notes.
The Loire traverses a 630-mile area that includes a continental climate on the eastern end all the way to a maritime climate on the western end of the Loire. If you toured the Loire from east to west you would start in the Central Vineyards, travel through the Touraine, then Anjou-Saumur and end in Nantais. The central vineyards are known for Sancerre (sauvignon blanc and pinot noir) and Pouilly-Fume’ (sauvignon blanc). Wines from the Touraine are known as Vouvray (chenin blanc), Chinon (cabernet franc) and Bourgueil (cabernet franc). Anjou-Saumur hosts “Appellation d’Origine Controlee” or “AC” wines and main wine from Nantais is Muscadet.
Roger Voss, in his April 6, 2011 article, Decode the Wines of the Loire Valley, does a nice job of describing the region and fruit typical of wines from this region. Etty Lewensztain, in her March 28, 2011 article, The Quest for Salty Wines provides a great description of the savory element salt adds to wine offers a few wines to look for and notes that “briny accents…bring depth and complexity to a wine”.
In our own quest to discover salty wines and what they pair well with, we tasted two wines the Serve-et-Maine appellation within Nantais. The first was a 2005 Tentation de Granite et Gabbro. The second was a 2013 Domaine de la Tepiere sur lie.
Our assessment of the wine is shown in the table below. In general both are good wines and offer characteristics reminiscent of the Serve-et-Maine. We paired the wines with a neutral feta cheese, olive tapenade and wheat crackers. Our pairing preference was the 2005 with the crackers and olive tapenade. While fresh and neutral in flavor and body, the feta drew from rather than contributed to a balance of flavors and textures.
Let us know about your pairing experiences and if there are areas you would like us to explore and report on.
Mike
Assessment
|
2005 Granite |
2013 Tepiere |
Appearance (color) |
Clear, pale gold, medium straw |
Clear, light straw, pale yellow |
Nose |
Clean muted aroma of fruit, melon, stone |
Briny, salty, yeasty, light notes of apricot and pear. |
Taste |
Light body, acidic finish, hint of petroleum and lemon, low-no tannin |
Briny, mineral, lemon, acidic, light weight, low, no tannin |
Conclusion |
Good medium quality wine. |
Good medium quality |
References:
Roger Voss, April 6, 2011 http://www.winemag.com/Web-2011/Decoding-the-Wines-of-the-Loire-ValleyTK/
Etty Lewensztain, March 28, 2011 http://www.wineandfoodtravel.com/wine/wine-101/the-quest-for-salty-wines/
Exploring the World of Wine and Spirits, The Loire Valley, pages 73-78, Christopher Fielden, WSET Revised Edition 2009