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The Perfect Summer WineWhat to drink at the beach.

By Mike SteinbergerPosted Wednesday, July 23, 2008, at 4:56 PM ET

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Mike Steinberger named some of his favorite summer wines back in 2005. Sara Dickerman provided 12 steps for preparing better pasta salad. Jill Hunter Pellettieri recommended how to pick out the sweetest, ripest summer fruit. Brendan I. Koerner wondered whether barbecuing with charcoal or gas is better for the planet.

Thanks to the efforts of these producers, critics are starting to take Muscadet more seriously, and a few of the wines have garnered impressive scores. Still, melon de Bourgogne is a grape with limited possibilities, and while it is great to see Muscadet getting some attention, consumers who think they are buying the equivalent of a top Chablis or Vouvray may be in for a letdown; even the choicest Muscadets don't attain those heights. Some Muscadet aficionados claim that the wines improve with cellaring, but I am not persuaded that they've got the substance or depth to warrant extended aging. I think Muscadets are best drunk young and should be taken for what they are—crisp, cleansing wines that make an excellent lubricant for parched palates and a perfect foil for simple seafood preparations. After a day spent chasing my kids through the surf with fiddler crabs nipping at my heels, sucking down a good Muscadet with a dozen raw cherrystones is my idea of bliss.

So, which Muscadets can be counted on to induce dockside rapture? I'll get no points for originality—this seems to be everyone's favorite—but the Domaine de la Pépière Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Sur Lie Clos des Briords Cuvée Vieilles Vignes is the one I most often uncork. Vintner Marc Ollivier is arguably the brightest light in the Muscadet region, and the Clos des Briords is his finest offering, a single-vineyard wine sourced from 60-year-old vines (hence the Vieilles Vignes). An unusually rich and refined Muscadet, the 2006 Clos des Briords ($20 is the suggested retail price, although it can be found for much less in some places) is marked by tart peach, citrus, and chalk flavors, along with a pinch of salt, a bit of effervescence, and a gentle whiff of petroleum. In addition to being a seriously good wine, it is also thoroughly refreshing—my mouth was still watering five minutes after I took my last sip.

The 2006 Domaine de la Quilla Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Sur Lie ($13.99) opens with a gust of briny ocean air, with grapefruit and floral scents filling out the bouquet. Crisp, tangy citrus flavors roll across the palate, backed by bracing acidity; this is Muscadet at its lip-smacking, raw-oyster-complementing best. The 2006 Chéreau CarréChâteau de Chasseloir Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Sur Lie ($12) doles out a sensational medley of aromas that includes lime, green apple, talc, saltwater, and a sprig of herbs. It is a medium-bodied wine but with loads of ripe fruit, abundant richness and concentration, some of that telltale Muscadet fizz, and a generous shot of salty minerality. This wine impressed me—enough that I might just have to include a few bottles in the stash of wines that I'm hauling up to the cape. The 2006 Domaine de l'Ecu Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Expression de Gneiss ($13.99) is a biodynamic wine made by Guy Bossard, another prodigiously gifted vigneron. With its chalky texture (imagine a little rock dust sprinkled in your glass), the Expression de Gneiss is as much about feel as it is flavor. Along with all that great tactility, the wine offers honey and citrus notes, brisk acidity, and a very sexy herbal kick—all in all, an excellent advertisement for Muscadet and biodynamic winemaking. (There is no Sur Lie on this label, but the wine was aged on its lees.)

The 2006 Châteaude la Ragotière Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Sur Lie Sélection Vieille Vignes ($17.50) puts the hook in with a seductive nose evocative of grapefruit, petroleum, steel rods, and wet stones (smell it—you'll see what I mean). The wine is not quite as interesting on the palate, but it has good fruit, density, and structure, and will sing in the company of bivalves, crustaceans, and assorted other edible sea creatures.

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Mike Steinberger is Slate's wine columnist. He can be reached at . His book, Au Revoir to All That, is about the rise, fall, and future of French cuisine.

Photograph of white wine by George Doyle/Getty Images.

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