france: loire_valley
Domaine Claude Branger, Muscadet Sèvre et Maine
Claude Branger is a tall, soft-spoken gentleman with silver hair. He dresses neatly, although not expensively, and there is about him, as there is about his wines, a clear sense of refinement. His grandfather developed the wine domaine of Haute Févrie during the first World War. Today his wife Thérèse manages the office while his son Sébastien works beside him. They farm 57 acres divided among seven parcels in the heart of the Muscadet Sèvre et Maine appellation. The small river of La Sèvre is just to the north, cutting deep into land; further south and east is the sister river of La Petite Maine.
The Muscadet Sèvre et Maine AC is the best and by far the biggest of the four Muscadet appellations (this AC produces more wine than any other in the Loire Valley). Most of it is forgettable, which is unfortunate. The fact is there are wines of revelation made here—wines that are soft yet shockingly vigorous, full of flavors of bread, lemon freshness, and sea salt minerality. Melon de Bourgogne is a white cousin to Gamay, and like Gamay it can be easy, it can be delicious, and it can surprise. Among the small cadre of committed growers, Claude Branger ranks among the top five (top two, if you credit the leading French critic, Michel Bettane, who ranks Branger and just one other grower as Muscadet's best in his annual classification). He is a member of Terra Vitis, an organization that sets guidelines for sustainable farming and monitors its members' practices to ensure quality control. Unlike most growers, he prunes for low yields, harvests by hand, ferments with native yeast, and lets his wine rest on its lees until bottling, which is done without fining and with a light filtration—the classic sur lie technique. Muscadet is not naturally high in acid; it's the lees contact and the resulting CO2 gas that give the wine its crisp spice and zest.
Le Fils des Gras Moutons is his base wine and a great buy. It comes from just over 28 acres of vines in Branger's earlier maturing plots that average 35 years of age. The wine rests on its lees for six to seven months before bottling. It is fresh, lemony and fruity, with delicious underpinning minerality and persistence. 2,000-2,500 cases are made each year.
L'Excellence is his mid-tier wine, made from 50 to 80-year-old-vines. This elegant, age-worthy wine is bottled under the Haute Févrie label.
Terroir Les Gras Moutons is the top wine, made from just under 10 acres of vines growing in a parcel in the adjacent commune of Saint Fiacre. This is the smallest of the 23 communes in the Sèvre et Maine AC and one with some of the best terroir. Claude's vines are between 40 and 70 years old, and the soil is very rocky, giving naturally low yields. He leaves the wine on its lees for twelve to fourteen months, and it is quite powerful by Muscadet standards. Ripe, round, and intensely mineral, this wine can age ten years, developing aromas that are a cross between Riesling and Pinot Blanc. Roughly 1,000 cases are made each year.
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