Gros Plant, or, to give it a name that is more of a mouthful than the wine usually is, Gros Plant du Pays Nantais is the country cousin of muscadet
. Made from folle blanche vines, called Gros Plant here, with Colombard occasionally playing a minor part, it is grown in a wide arc east but mainly south of the city of Nantes on the Loire. Gros Plant is one of the most acidic-tasting wines made anywhere, and its aggressively dry style serves only to accentuate its inherent tartness—exacerbated by the grapes’ tendency to rot here before they ripen. The Folle Blanche vine responsible was introduced to this region by the dutch wine trade, and outnumbered the Muscadet vine until the ravages of phylloxera in the late 19th century. Gros Plant was promoted from vdqs to aoc in 2011. About a third as much Gros Plant is made as Muscadet, although a much smaller proportion ever leaves the region. As in Muscadet, it may be described as ‘sur lie’ if aged with lees contact until at least March.
