La Ferme Des Confluences 'Relais' Muscadet 2023

More and more over the last few years, my wine geek friends have started filling their lists with amazing, affordable Muscadets. I knew it wasn't just hype after reading an article in Noble Rot about the region's new wave of producers. They were comparing them to Burgundy, talking about terroir and sites and a real sense of place, not just no-frills, forgettable white. Ever since, I've been a Muscadet fan girl. It makes me so happy to keep finding producers who make wines I want to drink all summer long. Doing some research on La Ferme des Confluences, Google took me right back to Noble Rot. And I knew that what I'd felt when I tasted this wine a few weeks ago wasn't bluff.

Thomas Foubert is at the heart of this movement. He took over his 10 hectares in 2022, between the banks of the Sèvre and Maine rivers, on some of the area's finest terroirs. The vineyards have been farmed organically since 2017, with most of the work done by hand. In the cellar, wild yeast fermentations, low sulphur, and lees ageing in a mix of concrete, stainless steel, fibreglass, and barrel.

His 'Relais' is beautifully made, with that saline minerality you want from Muscadet, but also a nice, ample depth. If you like mineral whites, if you like Chablis but don't want to pay Chablis prices, this is for you. Drink it with oysters, with moules frites, with shrimp scampi loaded with mountains of parsley and crispy breadcrumbs and showers of lemon squeeze.