Grande Falaise 2022: a Red Merlot from Muscadet

A red wine from Muscadet. Even saying it feels off, yet here it is: Pierre Goiset’s Grande Falaise 2022. Merlot, from a region that has revolved around white Melon de Bourgogne for generations. It shows the maritime climate around Nantes can handle more than you’d think.

The maker

Pierre Goiset was a cameraman before he started his own estate in 2021, south of Nantes, where the Sèvre Nantaise meets the Maine. It’s small: about three hectares, of which 2.6 are Melon de Bourgogne and just over half a hectare Merlot. There’s more on him in my profile of Pierre Goiset.

He farms organically and biodynamically. Between the rows he ploughs with a horse, because a tractor compacts the soil too much.

Where it comes from

The Merlot grows on granite in the Le Quéry parcel, in Maisdon-sur-Sèvre. These are young vines. The same parcel gives Le Quéry, a white from vines up to a hundred years old.

How it’s made

Goiset doesn’t chase extraction. The grapes get a brief infusion of a few days, a light maceration that picks up fruit and earthy notes without heavy tannin. The wine then ages for eleven months in neutral fibre tanks, with no oak. It’s unfiltered and gets very little sulphur.

What to watch for

First, young vines. They lack the age of his Melon parcels, and that shapes the wine: fresh, light and lively.

Second, it won’t say Muscadet on the label. The appellation only covers white wine from Melon de Bourgogne. Search by the maker’s name.

Third, the estate is young. The first harvest was 2021, and frost cut it to 13 hectolitres per hectare against a target of 30. So this 2022 is only the second vintage, and there’s even less red than white. Goiset’s wines turn up mainly at natural wine specialists.

Fourth, unfiltered and low in sulphur. The wine keeps evolving in the bottle. As with any unfiltered, low-sulphur wine: store it cool.

At the table

Serve it lightly chilled. It works with charcuterie, duck breast with cherry sauce, and even the local seafood.

Producer

Pierre Goiset, Maisdon-sur-Sèvre

Wine

Grande Falaise

Vintage

2022

Region

Muscadet, Loire, France

Grape

Merlot (young vines)

Soil

Granite, Le Quéry parcel

Winemaking

Brief infusion, eleven months in neutral tank, unfiltered

Alcohol

13.5%

Sources

• My own tasting note
• InterLoire: vinsvaldeloire.fr
• INAO, Muscadet cahier des charges: inao.gouv.fr