Appellation
Muscadet Sèvre et Maine
Identity card
VillageAOPWhite
Loire Valley · Recognised on 14 November 1936
- Village
- Regional
Key points
- Dry white only: at most 55 hl/ha, at least 10% natural alcohol.
- Every wine spends the winter on its fine lees, unracked.
- At most 3 g/l of sugars: always a dry white.
Grape varieties
White wine onlyMelon de Bourgogne
Melon B alone
Production rules
55
hl/ha
Maximum yield
10
% ABV
Minimum natural alcohol
5,000
vines/ha
Minimum planting density
Minimum ageing: On fine lees, unracked, until at least 1 March after the harvest
- Maximum yield
- How much wine a hectare may produce under the appellation (a higher, exceptional ceiling often exists). The lower it is, the less can be made: one of the levers on how concentrated the grapes are. For reference: 35 hl/ha to 80 hl/ha across 96 Oenopia appellations of the same colour.
- Minimum natural alcohol
- The alcohol the grapes' own sugar must be able to give, without enrichment: a ripeness threshold at harvest. For reference: 9 % ABV to 14 % ABV across 46 Oenopia appellations of the same colour.
- Minimum planting density
- The fewest vines allowed per hectare. For the same yield, more vines means fewer grapes on each. For reference: 4,000 vines/ha to 9,000 vines/ha across 105 Oenopia appellations of the same colour.
- Minimum ageing
- A minimum ageing period the specification requires before the wine may be sold to consumers.
Terroir
- Lie of the land: Slopes above the Loire, the Sèvre and the Maine
- Soils: Old bedrock: mica schist, gneiss, gabbro, granite
- Climate: Oceanic: mild winters, cool summers
Wine style
- dry white
- roundness and freshness
- fruity or floral
- slight prickle (sur lie)
Boundaries: INAO, AOC vineyard plot delimitation (September 2026 edition) · Open Licence
Specification
26 November 2025
Arrêté du 26 novembre 2025 homologuant le cahier des charges de l'AOC « Muscadet Sèvre et Maine », publié au JORF du 29 novembre 2025 (BO-Agri du 11 décembre 2025). Appellation initialement reconnue par le décret du 14 novembre 1936.
Labelling terms
- "Sur lie": still on its lees when bottled, before the second summer
- 7 geographical names: Château-Thébaud, Clisson, Gorges, Goulaine…
- … Monnières-Saint-Fiacre, Mouzillon-Tillières, Le Pallet
- These names: at most 45 hl/ha; on lees until at least 1 October N+2
- The geographical name "Vin de Loire" may be added
Nearby appellations
Sources
- Official sourceCahier des charges de l'appellation d'origine contrôlée « Muscadet Sèvre et Maine »— Institut national de l'origine et de la qualité (INAO) / Ministère de l'agriculture
South-east of Nantes, on the slopes of the Sèvre, the Maine and the edges of the Loire, Muscadet Sèvre et Maine is the heart of the Muscadet vineyard and was among the appellations recognised as early as 1936. It makes only dry, still white wines from a single grape, Melon, all aged on their fine lees until at least the 1st of March after the harvest. The "sur lie" mention and seven complementary geographical names, such as Clisson and Le Pallet, refine the label under stricter ageing and bottling rules.
Mini-challenge
Muscadet Sèvre et Maine
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