Sounds like we just missed Oswaldo in the Loire. We took a gîte in La Possonniere for exploring the western Loire and made several trips into and around Nantes. Muscadet (Melon de Bourgogne) is the Loire's most heavily produced white wine, accounting for nearly 40% of the total. What you see driving through Sèvre et Maine are vast vineyards spreading in all directions, quite unlike other parts of the Loire where the vineyards tend to be somewhat like islands separated by fruit farms and forests. The sheer abundance of Muscadet must be part of the reason it is so inexpensive. Cachet, or the lack thereof, is probably another. The similarity of the name to Muscat can’t be of much help.
With all this Muscadet the hometown had surprisingly little of it for sale from what we saw. In other parts of the Loire, grocery stores, both chains and regional markets, feature local wines with big displays. But when we stopped at several grocery stores and wine shops just outside Nantes there was no more Muscadet on the shelves than the scant amount to be found in Tours or Bourges. A wine store in a large shopping mall in Ancenis had many more wines from Touraine and Sancerre/Pouilly. A stand-alone wine store several miles away had just 2 Muscadets. I tried asking the owner about it but my French just wasn’t up to it. Perhaps this is all a case of very limited sampling. But it left me wondering whether folks in the Pay Nantais actually drink much Muscadet. And if they don’t who does?
I think it's the best bargain for white wine in the market at the present time.