Ragotière - The Muscadet region extends south, east and west from Nantes near the mouth of the Loire across Atlantic-dominated gently rolling countryside. Bone dry white wines from the Muscadet (Melon de Bourgogne) grape are made here, and not surprisingly they are a fantastic match for the local seafood. For a long time they have been assigned to the pile of cheap quaffing wines, but the best, matured on their lees (sur lie) over winter and then bottled without racking are definitely wrongly maligned. New appellation laws requiring lower yields (51 hl/ha) and longer lees aging to qualify for “Sur Lie” status have seen a marked improvement in the quality.