White wine is your tipple of choice, but you feel like trying something new, so what is a girl to do? It's time to freshen up for summer with a thoroughly modern Muscadet.

A favourite of celebrity chef Rick Stein, Muscadet is an elegant dry white wine, which will leave your taste buds tingling. Grown near the coast in the French Loire Valley, Muscadet benefits from bright sunshine and the salty winds of the Atlantic Ocean, which both contribute to the wine's bracing freshness: every sip takes you back to the seaside.

Thanks to the unique environment in which it is grown, Muscadet has light citrus tones combined with a hint of creaminess and an energising spritz that gives it a festive feel. As Muscadet is consistently high in quality, it is a safe option to buy for dinner parties or if you are getting a round in for a group of friends.

The wine tends to be very pale, with a light gold/green colour and the scent is often described as 'green' or grassy. Other aromas that might come through are apples, citrus fruit, white flowers and herbs. As it ages, these characteristics may change and develop to create a softer, almost honeyed flavour and scent. The other feature people comment on when drinking Muscadet is a 'flinty' taste, which sounds strange until you encounter it. These mineral flavours are what make the wine so refreshing and this explains why it goes so famously well with oysters and shellfish.

Types of Muscadet
There are four types of Muscadet. The general Muscadet, which covers the whole region, and then three local appellations (areas), which produce their own versions: Muscadet Sèvre et Maine, Muscadet Coteaux de la Loire and Muscadet Côtes de Grandlieu.

The largest sub-region is Muscadet Sèvre et Maine, which produces the majority of bottles you will encounter. This area covers the granite soils between the two tributaries leading to the sea. The location gives Sèvre et Maine the classic Muscadet flavours described above. Côtes de Grandlieu, which is grown next door are similar in style. Finally, Coteaux de la Loire is a little dryer, with more of the 'flint' than the flowers. However, all four appellations share the major characteristics and the differences are subtle.

Watch out for...
On some Muscadet labels (for all of the types mentioned above), you might see a phrase 'sur lie'. This means that the wine has rested on a bed of yeast and was then bottled a few months after harvesting. This gives the wine more depth and can also result in a slight sparkle on the tongue. It is worth looking out for Muscadet sur Lie, as it's a slightly richer version of the ordinary Muscadet.

Muscadet sur Lie can happily last for a few years and as it ages; it becomes more complex, grower deeper in colour and developing more fruity and nutty characteristics. The flavour should become more creamy and honeyed as well, leaving a more rounded, softer structure.

Muscadet comes in slightly taller, slimmer bottles than most wines and should be labelled clearly.

How to drink it
Muscadet should be drunk chilled but not icy cold, otherwise the fresh flavours will be masked. You can get different vintages, though Muscadet is lovely when it is drunk young, so you capture all of those green 'grassy' herbal scents.

All in all, Muscadet is a crisp and elegant wine. It is a great choice in a social situation as it is made to high standard and almost everyone will like it. It is famous as an accompaniment to seafood, oysters and lobster in particular, but it also works well with cheese and some meats. Finally, it makes a brilliant start to an evening as the slight spritz and dryness really get the mouth watering, so whatever you choose to serve your guests will be appealing!

If you want more ideas on how to match food with this wine, take a look at our Muscadet Menu, for an entire dinner party based around this sophisticated crowd-pleaser.