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ON WINE
European wine sales are lagging, but Europe's less-renowned regions still offer many bargains. In France one such region is the Loire Valley.
Muscadet, from the western Loire Valley, may be the greatest white-wine value of all. It hails from an area of mild and cool weather and comes from the Melon de Bourgogne grape variety, also known as Muscadet. Muscadet wine is light- to medium-bodied, crisp and fresh. It's perfect for warm weather and goes well with shellfish, particularly oysters.
The simplest Muscadet wine is Muscadet AOC, but three other Muscadets - from specific AOC zones with lower-yielding vineyards - are higher quality. The largest and best known of those is Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine, named for two local rivers; most Muscadets found in the United States come from this zone. Two other specific zones are Muscadet des Coteaux de la...