Muscadet: A Region in Crus Control

BY REBECCA GIBB MW | NOVEMBER 16, 2021

In the Muscadet-producing vineyard of Château Thébaud, steep granite cliffs suddenly fall away to the Maine river far below. It could be a fatal drop, but in the past year, thousands have walked over the edge. Since October 2020, a floating walkway extending 30 meters from the edge has lured those with a head for heights to enjoy the uninterrupted views of the tree-lined river below and the vineyards perched on the opposite clifftop. The platform takes viewers into uncharted territory, and this concept is not unfamiliar to the local wine producers. Having suffered in recent years from several devastating frosts and decades of depressed prices, many have fallen by the wayside in Muscadet, but the most daring are taking a brave step away from the edge.

View of Maine river from the Château Thébaud view platform.

Sitting just 20km from Nantes, Château Thébaud is not only hoping to lure tourists from the affluent city centre, but it is also one of 10 villages seeking to build Muscadet’s credentials as a fine wine producer. They have a tough task at hand. The average price paid for a bottle of Muscadet in France is less than €4 (Source: InterLoire). While that’s an increase of almost one Euro in the past decade, sales in French supermarkets have fallen by 100,000hl at the same time. This partly reflects availability issues caused by four severely reduced harvests in that period (2012, 2016, 2017 and 2019). There are also far fewer vineyards making Muscadet. At its peak, the Muscadet-producing vineyards hit the 13,000-hectare mark. That figure fell to 10,911ha in 2010, and by 2019, there were just 7,497ha of vines in Muscadet. The word on the streets of Château Thébaud is that it will contract further due to an ageing population of vignerons retiring without being replaced; the next generation is looking at the income potential of making Muscadet and saying, ‘no thank you’. 

However, there are some young dynamos defying the downward trend. In April 2020, a new association, Jeunes Vignerons Nantais, was established to support wine producers under the age of 40, and it already has 50 members. At first glance, the cost of entry into Muscadet makes the area look appealing to new entrants. The average price for a vineyard is €8,000 per hectare, rising to €12,000 in the Sèvre et Maine appellation with a maximum price of €18,000 paid in 2019. The highest price reflects the price of a vineyard within one of the new crus (Source: SAFER, 2020). While Muscadet might seem like an absolute steal compared to the average price of a hectare in Pauillac (€2.3m), Champagne’s Côte des Blancs (€1.6m) or Côte Rôtie (€1.15m), the low price reflects the earning potential of those parcels.

Location, location, location in Muscadet.

In addition to depressed prices and the increased frequency of severe frosts in the last decade, there’s also another hurdle thwarting newcomers to Muscadet. Despite the availability of cheap vineyard land, finding a cellar to turn the grapes into wine is increasingly difficult. The popularity of nearby Nantes is forcing real estate prices up not only in the city limits but in the commuter belt. Once an industrialized port city, Nantes is now an attractive, cultural hub with more than 100 parks and gardens; it is easy to get around thanks to its tram system and is just two hours to Paris by train. It was named the 2013 European Green Capital as well as France’s best city to work by L’Express newspaper. What’s more, visitors can also take a ride on a 21-meter-long mechanical elephant, should they wish. House prices are up 29% in the past five years (Source: Figaro Immobilier 2020); however, you can still get double the space for your money compared to Paris, so it’s no surprise that many companies and their staff have left the capital and headed toward the Atlantic coast. The major Muscadet-producing villages are just 20 minutes by train from the city centre, encouraging retiring wine producers, who haven’t had it easy since the frost of 1991, to cash in on rising real estate prices by selling their cellars to developers.  

Despite the challenges that producers continue to face, including another devastating frost in spring 2021, slashing yields by 60 to 80%, the tenacity of those remaining is admirable. There are green shoots emerging, and it’s down to a cohort of quality-oriented producers that have been championing premium credentials of Muscadet against a weakening tide of negoçiant-bottled plonk. While there’s evidently a sense of frustration that Muscadet continues to be perceived as a B-list option by the wine world, the rise of Muscadet to the A league will be a slow burn.