Muscadet will get three new village denominations. It is not, as far as we understand, a question of village “appellations” (AOP as it is called nowadays) but the right to put the name of the commune on the label on a AOP Muscadet wine. The three communes are:
- Clisson
- Gorges
- Le Pallet
Those who choose to use the village name on the label have to adhere to some rules that are stricter than for the basic AOP. For example, the yield is limited to 45 hl/ha instead of 65 hl/ha. The three villages represent no more than 100 ha of vineyards together shared between 65 (!) growers so it is not a question of great impact. But perhaps it can help push quality up for Muscadet.
The whole of Muscadet has 10,000 ha and some 650 growers. Read more on vitisphere.com/Muscadet-mentions-communales. Sally Easton MW speculates on that it should in time be extended to seven villages in total and explains a bit more of the characteristics on Muscadet Crus Communaux.
