Loire Valley (wine) Melon de Bourgogne grape to use in the production of their "brandewijn"—distilled wine with brandy added to it. Following the devastation in 1709 of winter frost to many of the vineyards in the Loire-Atlantique, King Louis XIV ordered that the frost resistant Melon de Bourgogne grape be given preferential treatment in the replanting of the area. Despite the inference of "Muskiness" in its name, Muscadet is a neutral flavor wine and the Melon de Bourgogne grape has no relation to the Muscat family of grapes. The area's four appellation all produces white wine made from the Melon de Bourgogne grape.
Pays de la Loire Pays de la Loire Pays de la Loire (; meaning "Loire Countries") is one of the 18 regions of France. It is one of the regions created in the 1950s to serve as a zone of influence for its capital, Nantes, one of a handful of so-called "balancing metropolises" ("métropoles d'équilibre")¹. Pays de la Loire comprises 5 departments: Loire-Atlantique, Maine-et-Loire, Mayenne, Sarthe, Vendée. Pays de la Loire is made up of the following historical provinces: Thus the name of the region, chosen by the French central government, was not based on history, but purely on geographical references: "Pays" ("lands") "de