I’m always amazed by the feeling one gets when walking alone on the Alabama beach in perfect weather. Chef Jim and I met our good friends Melanie and JJ for a three day get-away to Orange beach. The drink of choice for many touristas is usually not wine, but I have to say if wine is your thing (and it must be because you are reading my blog), the most perfect beach wine in my opinion must be wine from Muscadet Sèvre et Maine. This wine pairs with seafood like a good cab and a juicy steak.

So let me tell you where it hails from:

Muscadet Sèvre et Maine is one of France’s oldest AOCs. It is the largest regional appellation by area and volume in the Nantes wine region (one of XX along the Loire River in France) with 15,808 acres and 425 winegrowers. It is located between the Sèvre and the Maine, the two last tributaries of the Loire just before it reaches the Atlantic Ocean. Its soil is composed of gneiss, orthogneiss, granite, schist and gabbro. So, the grape plants roots take from the soil what eventually becomes a wine with minerality and salinity that embodies the character of the ocean like no other.

I carry this wine in the restaurant twice a year and have a hard time selling it until I give our guests a given a complimentary taste. The name gives people the impression it has something to do with muscadine grapes or Muscat. It most certainly does not! Once tasted, I have a wonderful success rate of bringing a new person into the fold of believers in Muscadet Sèvre et Maine.

If you get a chance, seek this wine when you have seafood on the menu and you will say “Thanks Bougie Belinda and her vines!”