The Story
The Maricool Muscadet 2018 is a $4.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive, an AOC designated white from the Loire Valley in France. The grape used for Muscadet (the “det” is pronounced day) is Melon de Bourgogne a grape that long ago was prevalent in Burgundy and now is found in the Loire Valley. This is one of those wines that makes me enjoy Trader Joe’s. I get to go to Wine Trade Tastings and have sampled Muscadet before but never paid all that much attention. With CWF we write about wines that can be readily found, telling someone about a wine that they will never see on a store shelf doesn’t do anybody any good. And now Trader Joe’s proves me wrong, here is a nationally distributed Muscadet (as long as you shop at TJ’s) that sells for a 1/3 of the cost most retail Muscadet. It is an AOC wine, which is the highest designation for French wine, (there are sub rankings inside the AOC designation that further classify the wines) but AOC means it adhered to all the rules and regulations. The packaging for this sub-5 buck wine is simple but attractive and I expect this White wine to be young, bright, and crisp. The alcohol content is a mild 11.5%.
The Tasting Notes
The color is a pale wheat yellow. The nose is a lightly honeyed green apple, lemon, pear, lime, a little melon. I was led to believe that Muscadet was not the most aromatic wine, but the Maricool smells delicious. This is a light-bodied wine with a slippery mouthfeel, delicate flavors, and balanced acidity. It starts with crisp green apple, lemon chiffon, a mix of peach and pear, and a hint of melon. The mid-palate basically mirrors the main body of the wine, but salty, nutty sensation and some soft grapefruit are added. The acidity is well controlled, it makes you want to take another sip. The finish is delicate and ghosts of flavors last for some time.
The Summary
- If ever there was an opportune time to give Muscadet a try, this is it.
- I always mistakenly lumped Muscadet in with Moscato (a grape that I am not very fond of unless it is from the Asti region of Italy where it is amazing). And it turns out I like Muscadet, even $4.99 Muscadet, it has this sleek, sweet, sour, and salty thing going that is almost beguiling. To be almost beguiled by a $4.99 wine is actually very high praise.
- This is a killer summer-time bottle of wine.
