The Mark of Zero

O

Oswaldo Costa

Oswaldo Costa
1989 Luneau Papin Le L d’Or Muscadet Sèvre & Maine Cuvée Medaillée 12.0%
Rich lime and jasmine, showing intense minerality. Satisfying weight, mellow sweetness, backed by sufficient acidity, turned dewy and tender. Except for the mellowness, little sign of being over 21. Zero wood, zero oxidativeness, zero heat, zero CO2. In sum, zero threats to the pleasure centers. Quite lovely, the kind that restores faith in this treacherous hobby.

Everyone knows that Muscadets can age, but there's an interesting debate about whether time improves or simply changes them. I imagine this was different, but equally lovely, in its youth, and I found no tertiary flavors; if improvement means tertiaries, then this is a vote for the change camp. But that sounds like a demerit, and this noble nectar will stand for no such thing.
 
I've only tried one older (10+ years) Muscadet. I read one writer describe aged Muscadet as acquiring a 'patina,' and this descriptor seemed to fit very well, though I admit I can't elaborate on what exactly it means applied to wine.
 
'88 and '89 Clos des Briords were both changed and improved on this week's evidence. '96 remains incredible, though this bottle was a little farther along than some others.

Bregeon's wines need years just to begin to speak.

2010s from Bossard, OTOH, are brilliant out of the gate.
 
originally posted by Joel Stewart:
How are the Bossards for laying down, Joe?
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I have only had the granite back to 2002, but it has all the stuffing of the clos des briords and kin, it would seem an excellent candidate.

Some people would tell you Bossard is the best guy in the Muscadet, if you're a ranking rather than a grouping sort. He's certainly in the top 5 or so.
 
originally posted by SFJoe:

Some people would tell you Bossard is the best guy in the Muscadet, if you're a ranking rather than a grouping sort. He's certainly in the top 5 or so.
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And nice to hear that he's apparently back on form. Is this from a renewed interest in winemaking on his part?
 
David at CSW has praised Bossard's 2009 wines very highly. If Meadows is the Burghound, David is surely the Muscrat. (Not to say that Joe's views don't carry some weight, too).

Need to find some Bregeon to subject to my rigorous testing protocol.
 
originally posted by Rahsaan:


And nice to hear that he's apparently back on form. Is this from a renewed interest in winemaking on his part?
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Was he ever off?

I didn't interview him about his plans, it wasn't really the occasion.
 
From my limited tasting I thought his 06s/07s were less successful than other folks' versions of the same vintages. And I seem to remember a mini-consensus on here that it reflected a lack of interest/desire to keep making wine.

But, that may have been an exaggeration/uninformed speculation.
 
Oh, I think he was reputed to have wanted to retire, and he had big problems with mildew in 2007, but my recollection of the '07s were quite positive.

Didn't have the same impression of a dip, but I don't drink as much from Bossard as from some others.
 
originally posted by Ian Fitzsimmons:
I've only tried one older (10+ years) Muscadet. I read one writer describe aged Muscadet as acquiring a 'patina,' and this descriptor seemed to fit very well, though I admit I can't elaborate on what exactly it means applied to wine.
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Not a term I've ever thought of to describe a Muscadet, but it's one of the most important concepts I can think of when it comes to describing (very) aged wine in general. Wines that have reached that point where literally none of the perceptible flavor was present on release - everything you're tasting is the patina; the underlying material is all gone or irrelevant.
 
I've been in the camp that thinks Muscadet is more likely to simply hang on and go through subtle changes (and yes, sometimes improvement) than it is to radically transform with age like, e.g. Burgundy. I have had quite a few delicious aged Muscadets but it has struck me that younger examples of the same wine were also compelling in different ways. Perhaps the problem is that many Muscadets just taste damn good out of the gates. Not a bad handicap to have.
 
Mabye I should also add that I'm a bit predisposed to enjoy Muscadet's simple pleasures with two little ones at home, the work schedule, etc. My need and desire for inexpensive and delicious wines to throw in a glass and swig with abandon is far greater than my ability (some weekends excluded) to open something old, expensive and thoughtful. I guess I just don't want to get all that granular and geeky with Muscadet. There, bias revealed.
 
I think that to drink Guy Bossard Gneiss or Granit young only calls to mind the potential latent there. Most of the respect I might give the wine would be as a result of what I think it will become. I am hazarding a guess. They are such very serious and stern wines when young.

And I think that to drink Bregeon Gorges or Clos des Briords with significant age is to see what all the fuss is about.

I understand why people enjoy certain muscadet when young. I enjoy those wines. I also enjoy certain chablis when young. But a 1996 R&V Dauvissat recently blew me away. As once did the 1996 Clos des Briords. In fact, I think that the simple truth of the matter is that if you are out and about saying that you don't see the point of ageing muscadet, I would simply ask if you have had a chance to taste 1996 Clos des Briords lately. I would hazard that you had not. If you had, and you were saying that, I would eat my hat. Really. Young hat or old hat, I would eat it. Right there in front of you, perhaps with a sauce and side garnish. Gobble, gobble.

Older Bregeon Gorges is something I remember like it was yesterday. I remember how I was sitting, where exactly and percisely I was, what the night was like outside. I remember everything about that moment. Because that was a keeper. That was a forever kind of wine.

Sure, don't age your muscadet. Just don't mind my tsk, tsking too much. It is silly to think that Burgundy is all potential but because muscadet is cheap, it isn't worth the same effort of patience.

This is all with thanks to: Roy Goldstein, the first person to ever tell me (ten years ago!) that whatever I wanted to do was just fine, but that he enjoyed to age his muscadet several years, thank you very much. And pass those razor clams. To David Lillie, a true trailblazer and an amazing advocate for muscadet and real wine in general. Thank you, David. And to SFJoe, who has shared with me several amazing muscadets with vintages beginning 199...Thank you for saving a glass for me.
 
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