NV Chateau Moncontour Crémant de Loire Blanc Brut 750 ml

Champagne-Quality Minus The Sticker-Shock

One of the glories of drinking in Paris — whether at a Michelin-starred temple de la gastronomie or a café in the Latin Quarter— is that you can basically be assured of finding a crisp and toasty Crémant de Loire on offer by the glass. This sparkling wine remains an insider secret elsewhere in the world, but is as essential to the Parisian culinary scene as fleur de sel. We first tasted the Château Moncontour Crémant de Loire Brut on a recent trip to France and immediately set about securing an allocation for Wine Access clients. Now that it has arrived stateside, the Moncontour’s fine mousse, notes of crisp apple and apricot, and persistent complexity transport us back to the Fifth Arrondissement every time we pop a bottle. A bubbly of this quality, at this price, is a definite case buy. $15.99 and not a moment too soon for warmer weather.

It’s no surprise that Crémant de Loire remains a bit of a mystery to American drinkers: Very little of the wine ever leaves French shores. Instead, most of it remains in the country to be consumed by drinkers in the Loire Valley and throughout Paris. Made by the painstaking méthode traditionelle, Crémant de Loire gets its fine and persistent mousse by going through the same in-bottle fermentation as Champagne, and its toasty complexity from a minimum of  nine months ageing on its lees.

Although Moncontour was a recent discovery of ours, Richard Hemming MW sang its praises on Jancis Robinson MW’s website long before our first sip. He wrote of how the stresses of travel are “worthwhile when you find wines that really hit the spot. And on that Friday morning in the Loire earlier this month, they were the Vouvrays of Château Moncontour.”

Château Moncontour is an illustrious Loire Valley château, and one of the oldest in the region: The estate dates back to the 4th century, the cliffside caves were carved in the 10th, and the château itself was built in the 15th century. The name of Moncontour’s vintage wine, “Cuvée Prédilection,” comes from the revered French writer Honoré de Balzac, who purportedly coveted the gorgeous Loire property and referred to it as his “prédilection.”

The Château Moncontour Crémant de Loire is composed of 60% Chenin Blanc and 40% Chardonnay — a blend that brings a fine minerality, honeyed notes, and a gorgeous finesse to the bubbly. The finished wine is brilliant lemon color with ripe apple, apricot, and a crisp and lively acidity. There is simply never a bad time for a Crémant like this. Drink it as an aperitif or an accompaniment to a meal, and you’ll see why the sparkling wines of the Loire are so immensely popular wine in the bistros of Paris — and you’ll be glad we managed to claim this allocation for Wine Access clients. Secure a case now.

— Wine Access Wine Team