Claude Branger
Muscadet Sèvre et Maine, Loire, France
Among the small cadre of committed growers—and it remains a small cadre—the father and son team of Claude and Sébastien Branger rank among the top. Claude was an early member of Terra Vitis, an organization that sets guide-lines for sustainable farming and monitors its members’ practices to ensure compliance. Subsequently, Sébastien embarked the domaine on the road to full-fledged organic farming. Certification came in 2016. They farm 65 acres in two parishes in the heart of the Muscadet Sèvre et Maine appellation. .
Two new crus communaux are the most exciting thing to come down the Muscadet pike in recent time, and are meant to be the apex of the pyramid in Muscadet (the base being made up of generic Muscadet, and the middle being made up of the three sub-appellations of Sèvre et Maine, Côteaux de la Loire, and Côtes de Grandlieu). The INAO recognized the following crus: Le Pallet (grabbo terroir), Clisson (granite), and Gorges (clay and quartz). recognized in 2011, followed by Goulaine (schist); Mouzillon-Tillières (grabbo); Château Thébaud (granite); and Monnières-Saint Fiacre (gneiss), all recognized in 2014. These all require lower maximum yields—45 hectoliters per hectare for a cru compared to 55 hl/ha for the sub-appellations—and a minimum aging period on the lees (usually 24 months, but this varies).
The Brangers have vines in the delimited zones of Château Thébaud and Monnières-Saint Fiacre.
This domaine prunes its vines for low yields, harvests by hand (a rarity in this land of machine harvesting), and lets its wine rest on the lees until bottling, which is done without fining and with a light filtration—the classic sur lie technique. It’s this technique that gives good Muscadet wine its freshness and lift. Contrary to popular opinion, Melon is not, if allowed to ripen properly, naturally high in acid; it’s the lees contact and the resulting CO2 gas that give the wine its crisp spice and zest (acid Muscadet is usually the product of under ripe, high-yielding machine-harvested grapes).
Visit The Wine Doctor for a an excellent summary of a visit to the estate.
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Claude Branger Muscadet Sevre-et-Maine Le Fils des Gras Moutons 2021
This is the domaine’s excellent base wine coming from 26 acres of vines in earlier maturing plots (while named the son of the wine below, this does not come from the same vineyard—it is simply made in the same spirit). The soil runs from 10 to 16 inches deep and the granite bedrock is metamorphic gneiss full of mica and quartz. These vines average 40 years of age and their yield averages 50 hectoliters per hectare (the legal maximum permitted in the AC, and thus the norm, is 55 hl/ha). The wine rests on its lees for six to seven months before bottling.
Review of the 2019 Vintage: “The le Fils des Gras Moutons is the workhorse bottling from the Branger family, made from plots near the vineyard of les Gras Moutons, but not from the vineyard itself. The 2019 version is bright and beautiful, offering up a complex nose that is gently influenced from its six months of contact with its fine lees, wafting from the glass in a lovely blend of green apple, lemon, wet stone minerality, a touch of sweet nutty tones from the lees, citrus blossoms and a touch of ocean breeze in the upper register. On the palate the wine is bright, zesty and complex, with a full-bodied format, a lovely core, fine mineral drive and a long, beautifully balanced finish. I love the backend energy in the 2019 Muscadets that I have tasted thus far! 92 pts”- John Gilman, A View from the Cellar, June 2021
Claude Branger Muscadet Sevre-et-Maine Terroir les Gras Moutons 2020
This is a single-vineyard wine, made now from 18 acres of vines (before 2009, their parcel totaled 10 acres) growing in a celebrated vineyard named the Fat Sheep*, one that occupies the high and gently sloping ground. This is in the adjacent commune of Saint Fiacre, which is the smallest of the 23 communes in the Sèvre et Maine AC and one with some of the best grape growing land. The bedrock is gneiss with amphibolite, a greenish metamorphic rock and the thin topsoil is pebbly, sandy clay. The vines were planted between 1930 and 1986, and average more than 50 years old. The meager soil and the old vines give naturally low yields, averaging 45 hl/ha. The wine rests on its lees in underground tanks for twelve to fourteen months, and it is quite concentrated by Muscadet standards. Ripe, round, and intensely mineral, this wine can age beautifully, developing aromas with bottle age that are a cross between Riesling and Pinot Blanc. A productive year sees 3,625 cases made.
Fat Sheep is the current literal translation, but it’s pretty far off base. Gras moutons comes from the old local dialect for gros moton or gros motton. Gros refers to something important, as in big or promi-nent. Moton is derived from mons in Latin, referring to mont (mount in English), the base for montagne or mountain. Motton comes from motte, referring to a natural levy or rise in the ground. Whether you go with moton or motton, it’s clear that Gras Moutons refers to a high point of ground in the area.
Review of the 2018 Vintage: “On the palate the wine is vibrant, full-bodied, complex andwide open in personality, with a good core, lovely mineral drive, good, sound acids and a long, beautifully balanced finish... First class Muscadet. 93 pts”- John Gilman, A View from the Cellar, June 2021