Thanks to its association with Bordeaux, Muscadelle is the most recognizable of Plageoles’ five sweet styles. This one comes from a 40- to 60-year-old parcel of vines grown on schist and clay. It’s cropped at a very low 15 hl/ha. For the most part, the fruit is dried on the vine (passerillage), although in some years there is a proportion of botrytis. The wine was vinified and aged in old oak demi-muids and finished with around 200 g/L residual.
A well-formed, heady and intense sweet wine, there are masses of complex layers to unpack. A saline core plays understudy to rich orange citrus, apricots and roasted hazelnuts. Texturally it is at its most impressive, the phenolic grip counterbalancing the significant fruit weight and rich viscosity. Perfectly placed acidity contributes a sense of freshness and a light touch. A wine that’s intense and full of hedonistic pleasure.
Back in the day, the Bordeaux establishment strangled the trade in Gaillac sweet wines firstly, by blending it with their own wines and later, by taxing the bejesus out of it before it went through their port. Revenge is a wine best served cold, preferably with a slice of lemon tart or a wedge of cheese.