Pop quiz. What grape, white or red, sells the most volume in the Loire Valley? As you’ve probably guessed, since this is a blurb about Melon de Bourgogne, it's not Sauvignon Blanc. (Suck on that Sancerre.) Melon de Bourgogne, AKA Melon, is a suitably cold-tolerant grape to thrive in the cold, wet, Atlantic-influenced area around Nantes. The grape originated in Burgundy, as the name indicates, but was successfully outlawed there by the Dukes of Burgundy. Why it was outlawed is a story for another time, but the grape found its happiest home in the Sèvres et Maine region named for the Sèvres and Maine rivers that are tributaries of the Loire River, and while it is somewhat wrongly referred to as ‘neutral’, its strong sales are based on something. And while the variety of subtle flavors of the wine might be rightly called limited (complexity is good, right?) the limited palette of flavors are complementary, and leave more room for one to appreciate the wine’s most interesting attribute: texture. We vividly recall our first glasses of Muscadet where we asked ourselves why we liked the wine so much. Part of the charm was its perfect partnership with moules frites and other seafoods, but the wine was fascinating on its own as well, and later experiences with Muscadets from many producers at various price points confirmed for us the wisdom of the market. The producer of this Muscadet, Jérémie Huchet, is a fourth generation winegrower in the region. He farms the vines with no chemicals to nurture the microbes in the soil that provide the vines access to the minerals that later become the predominant flavor, along with fresh white blossoms and pear on the nose. Underripe white peach, bosc pear skin bitterness, tarragon and floral flavors, animated by the acidity and texture partially provided by the long aging sur lie, dance on the palate. Excellent with the above-mentioned muscles, but will accompany most any seafood and will age gracefully for many years to come, but drink this one right away and then get some more for your cellar.