Chereau Carre, Muscadet Clisson Le Sillon de Braudieres, 2018

Welcome to the top tier of Muscadet. Clisson is one of the appellation's recognized Crus Communaux (officially in 2011), defined by its granite bedrock, late-ripening vines and required extended lees aging, which together produce a deeper, broader, more structured style than standard Sevre-et-Maine. Chereau-Carre's Le Sillon de Braudieres comes from the family's Chateau-Thebaud holdings on the Clisson granite, and the 2018 vintage offers ripe-edged but tense old-vine fruit. This is Muscadet pulled toward grand-cru white-Burgundy territory: textured, saline, structured, with serious aging potential. A revelation for anyone who still thinks of Muscadet as a one-trick oyster wine.