Melon de Bourgogne
Also known as Muscadet
Loire Valley, France
A neutral, high-acid white grape grown almost exclusively around Nantes in the Loire, where it's known by the name of its appellation, Muscadet, and often aged sur lie.
Sensory profile
Characteristics
Flavor & aroma
At a glance
Production facts
Prevalence
Niche
Climate
Cool climate
Ripening
Early season
Wine styles
Still
Where it's grown
Geography
Shaded areas are the state, province or département(s) containing each region, so they run wider than the appellations themselves.
France
Loire Valley (Muscadet / Pays Nantais)
Almost the sole variety of Muscadet; often aged sur lie for texture and gentle savory character.
Background
Origin & History
A third child of Pinot Noir and Gouais Blanc, Melon de Bourgogne began as a minor Burgundy grape before being transplanted to the Loire Valley's Nantes region. Its fortunes there were sealed by catastrophe: the brutal frost of 1709 devastated vineyards across the area, and Melon's cold-hardiness made it the natural choice for replanting, allowing it to become the dominant variety around Nantes almost by default.
Dutch merchants bought much of the region's neutral, dry white wine for export and distillation. The wine is called Muscadet, a name usually put down to its faint muskiness, and it has all but eclipsed the grape's own name. Modern producers often age the wine "sur lie" (on its spent yeast lees) through the winter, adding texture and a faint savory character to an otherwise lean, briny wine.
Lineage
Family tree
Ancestry above, descendants below. Click a related grape to explore its own lineage.