NV Domaine Julien Braud Pétillant Naturel 'La Bulle de l’Ouest'

100% certified organic Melon de Bourgogne (the grape of Muscadet. Grapes undergo gentle handpicking and transfer to the cellar. Natural fermentation happens at cool temperatures for a month. Lees aging varies, sometimes with stirring for complexity. Bottling occurs after light filtration. The vineyard features three distinct land types, influencing the character of their wines. Amphibolite yields easy-drinking varieties, while sand-silt and coarse-grained gabbros produce fruity and richer wines respectively.

Pours a lovely golden yellow color with plenty of fine bubbles. Aromas of pure fresh grape juice, toast, brioche, apple and pear. Mouthfilling, bone dry and full of ripe quince, apple, zesty citrus fruits along with racy minerality, plenty of brisk acidity and a slight toasty quality that one associates more with Champagne method bubbles than with Pet Nats. Interesting and long finish. 

Julien Braud produces wine from 12.5 acres in Monnières in the Sèvre et Maine appellation. He assumed his family’s estate around age 29 and joined forces with the growing young winemakers in the region. Julien is the 6th generation of his family to be a vine grower in the area – his father is at the helm of the reputed family estate “Fief aux Dames”.  In 2021, his wife Apolline joined him on the estate. The Loire domaine is certified organic, and Julien incorporates biodynamic practices by utilizing horses in the vineyard, natural yeasts for fermentation, and aging wines on lees in underground cement vats.