Overview
Mouzillon-Tillières is a cru communal of Muscadet Sèvre et Maine, one of four recognized in the second wave of 2019, after INAO's national committee approved the new designations in June of that year and the amended cahier des charges was signed on 16 October 2019. Legally a dénomination géographique complémentaire (DGC), it occupies, with Vallet, the eastern edge of the Sèvre et Maine vineyard, along the valley of the Sanguèze. The delimited area takes in parts of Mouzillon and Vallet in Loire-Atlantique and extends into Maine-et-Loire through parts of Saint-Crespin-sur-Moine and Tillières, delegated communes of Sèvremoine. The declared production surface was 9.36 hectares in 2023, within a combined cru output of about 3.5 percent of the appellation's volume.
History
The name pairs Mouzillon with Tillières, a village across the departmental boundary that has been part of the merged commune of Sèvremoine since 2015; the two communities built the cru dossier jointly through the 2010s. Growers of the Sanguèze valley had long been identified with late harvesting and extended lees aging before recognition came in 2019, alongside Château-Thébaud, Goulaine and Monnières-Saint-Fiacre. The wider region's vineyard, rebuilt after the destruction of the Vendée wars of 1793-1794 and again after phylloxera, has been planted to Melon de Bourgogne alone since the appellation's recognition in 1936.
Terroir & Climate
The cru sits on low hills rising to about 60 metres around the Sanguèze, a tributary of the Sèvre. The bedrock is gabbro, a dark igneous rock locally nicknamed "rubis" where it marks the riverbed; soils are sandy-clay, moderately deep, formed on little-altered gabbro and holding more clay than most Muscadet terroirs. Removed from the moderating mass of the Loire, the sector has the most continental climate of the crus and is the latest-ripening zone of the Nantes vineyard: soils warm slowly in spring, cycles run long and growers here are routinely the last in Sèvre et Maine to pick. The cahier des charges links these late, pushed maturities to the wines' aromatic breadth.
Grape Varieties & Wine Styles
Melon de Bourgogne (Melon B) is the sole variety. Cru rules cap yields at 45 hectolitres per hectare against 55 for the base appellation, admit vines only from their fifth year after planting, and require aging on fine fermentation lees at least until 1 October of the second year following the harvest, about two years; individual cuvées often stay longer. The wines cannot carry the "sur lie" mention, which requires bottling in the year after harvest. The official profile describes wines closed in youth that develop intense floral, citrus, aromatic-herb, brioche and mineral notes, with a concentrated structure supported by fine bitters and a slight astringency, and a documented capacity to age.
Notable Producers
Famille Luneau, a family estate of four generations between Vallet and Mouzillon, bottles the cru as Cuvée Nuance. Domaine du Colombier (Jean-Yves Bretaudeau), a president of the cru association, has released bottlings with nearly three years on lees. Xavier Gouraud is among the other growers who carried the cru project.
What to Know
Mouzillon-Tillières belongs to the 24-month aging tier with Clisson, Gorges, Château-Thébaud and Monnières-Saint-Fiacre. Within that group it is defined by gabbro rather than granite or gneiss, by the latest harvest dates in the region, and by a firmer, more phenolic palate profile. Its area is one of the few in the appellation crossing into Maine-et-Loire. Declared surfaces are small and production is limited. INAO stated in 2025 that these designations may not be marketed in writing as "cru"; labels read Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Mouzillon-Tillières.