Le Quéry 2022: Vines up to 100 Years Old

Some of these vines are nearing their hundredth birthday. That’s where Pierre Goiset’s Le Quéry 2022 comes from: Melon Blanc from the Muscadet area, from vines planted between 1920 and 1960. This Le Quéry review is about a Muscadet with depth you don’t expect.

The maker

Pierre Goiset was a cameraman before he started his domaine in 2021, in Saint-Fiacre-sur-Maine, where the Sèvre Nantaise and the Maine meet. He has about three hectares, mostly Melon de Bourgogne, known locally as Melon Blanc. His oldest vines were planted between 1920 and 1960, old massal selections. There’s more about him in my portrait of Pierre Goiset.

He farms organically, certified by Ecocert, uses biodynamic preparations, and ploughs with a horse. Old vines naturally give few grapes, but what they give is concentrated.

In the cellar

The grapes are picked by hand. Indigenous yeasts run the fermentation at their own pace. The wine then spends eleven months on its lees in fibreglass tanks. No oak, no fining, no filtration, little sulphur.

The label features abstract shapes in purple, orange and green.

Tasting Note

Tasting Note

Appearance

A deeper golden hue than its sibling La Mauguit.

Nose

Ripe golden apple, pear, subtle citrus.

Palate

Typical Muscadet brightness, with real depth. A mineral tension gives structure, and a light phenolic grip fits the unfiltered character.

Quality

A Muscadet with depth, at 12.5% alcohol.

What I watch for

One: the domaine is young. The first harvest was 2021, and frost cut it to 13 hectolitres per hectare against a target of 30. This 2022 is only the second. Old vines, but few vintages yet to judge the maker on.

Two: that phenolic grip. If you know Muscadet as a lean, taut oyster wine, you’ll find more texture and grip here. That comes with this way of working, but it’s a different wine from the classic style.

Three: there are few bottles. And unfiltered, low in sulphur: store it cool.

At the table

This cuvée handles more substantial seafood. Try it with grilled sea bass, lobster with herb butter, or pike-perch in beurre blanc. The wine’s texture and understated power match those richer preparations.

Producer

Pierre Goiset, Saint-Fiacre-sur-Maine

Wine

Le Quéry

Vintage

2022

Region

Pays nantais, Loire, France

Grape

Melon de Bourgogne (vines planted 1920-1960)

Winemaking

Indigenous yeasts, eleven months on lees in fibreglass tank, unfiltered

Alcohol

12.5%

Sources

• My own tasting note
• Vins Nature, product information Le Quéry: vinsnature.fr
• Raisin, on Pierre Goiset: raisin.digital
• InterLoire: vinsvaldeloire.fr