Pepière farms these certified-organic parcels on sand, limestone, and gneiss, with vines going back to 1956. The kind of Loire Melon de Bourgogne that rewards patience rather than intervention. Direct-pressed, fermented on native yeasts in steel, then nine months on its lees in glass-lined underground vats, it comes out saline and taut, with a mid-palate that's rounder than you'd expect from the grape's reputation. Minimal sulfur, no makeup, all minerality. This is what Muscadet tastes like when nobody's rushing it.
Winemaker Notes
The fruit is direct-pressed and the juice settles naturally for 12 hours. It is then fermented in stainless steel tanks with natural yeasts. The wine is then aged on its lees in large, glass-lined underground vats for nine months until bottling. S02 additions are three to five grams per hectoliter after alcoholic fermentation with a possible adjustment at bottling.
About the Producer
Thank you to importer Louis/Dressner and Jules Dressner for this profile of Pépière : (Click here for Louis/Dressner's Pépière notes and photos from visits and interviews) It feels strange re-writing profiles like Pépière’s. Almost like erasing the past, a past I was only tangentially part of! Joe and Denyse first visited Marc Ollivier in 1989. They likely began selling his 1988 in NYC shortly thereafter. Kevin McKenna, an equal partner at LDM since 1995, was their first customer for it when he was the buyer at Astor! It was our first Loire wine! I was three years old! But the Pépière profile…
