Scents of fresh lemon, pear, mint, jasmine, green tea, and lightly-toasted hickory nuts rise from the glass of Luneau-Papin 2007 Muscadet de Sevre et Maine Sur Lie L d’Or which then saturates the palate with succulence of sweet pear and melon unusual for Muscadet. Hints of fruit pip and toasted nut bitterness add interest on a startlingly luscious transparent palate through which shimmer saline, (metaphorically!) crystalline suggestion of things mineral, which it is hard not to ascribe to the eroded granite, serpentine, and mica-schist soils in which these old vines grow. The saline, citric finish tugs relentlessly at the salivary glands. This should be an utter delight to follow for at least the next half dozen years. Importer: Louis/Dressner Selections, New York, NY; tel. (212) 334 8191

The 2006 Muscadet de Sevre et Maine Sur Lie L d’Or smells almost sharply of lemon pip, tangerine zest, and sea spray. Zesty, tart citrus; salt; green tea; and rather adamant chalk and oyster shell notes inform the palate, leading to a finish whose mineral “stuff” it seems one couldn’t scrape off. Beside the more extroverted, juicily ripe – though in its way equally mineral – 2007, this comes off as rather austere. But there is much to recommend it in and of itself over the next 2-3 years, and if you play around with these exceedingly versatile wines at table, you will find each of the two vintages has its own fortes. Importer: Louis/Dressner Selections, New York, NY; tel. (212) 334 8191