Domaine de la Pépière Muscadet Sèvre et Maine sur Lie Clisson 2022
Domaine de la Pépière
The Clisson cru designation requires a minimum of 24 months on the lees, and Marc Ollivier's vines — some over 70 years old — deliver the concentration to make that extended aging worthwhile. This is Muscadet reimagined: serious, site-specific, and profoundly undervalued. One of the great white wine bargains in the world.
Nose
Sea-salt minerality and crushed stone dominate the nose, with citrus peel and green apple providing freshness. A subtle floral quality — almost like chamomile — emerges with time, alongside a faint honeyed richness from extended lees contact.
Palate
Medium-bodied for Muscadet, with a textural weight that reflects the Clisson cru's granite soils and mandatory extended aging. Citrus and apple drive the fruit character, but the real story is the mineral backbone and a saline quality that persists through the mid-palate. There's a hint of toasted grain and almond from the lees.
Finish
Persistent and mineral-driven, with citrus zest and a stony, almost chalky dryness that calls out for oysters or grilled fish.
- Varietal
- Melon de Bourgogne
- Blend
- 100% Melon de Bourgogne
- Vineyards
- Old vines (50–70+ years) on granite soils in the Clisson cru, Loire Valley
- Alcohol
- 12%
- Organic / Biodynamic
- No
- Skin Contact
- No
Food Pairing
The wine's saline minerality and citrus freshness are a natural mirror for briny oysters, while its lees-driven weight holds up to the vinegar sharpness of a classic mignonette.
The late Marc Ollivier, alongside Rémi Branger, built Domaine de la Pépière into one of Muscadet's most respected estates, farming old vines on granite-rich soils near Clisson and championing the region's cru system.
Be the first to comment.
Leave a comment
Dry Creek Chenin Blanc
Dry Creek Vineyard
Dry Creek Vineyard has championed Chenin Blanc in California for decades, and this bottling is a quiet testament to why the grape deserves more attention. It delivers warmth and generosity without excess—an approachable, food-friendly white that offers far more complexity than its modest price suggests. A wine that communicates comfort before you even find the words.
Chablis, Louis Michel
Louis Michel & Fils
Louis Michel & Fils is one of Chablis' great purists, eschewing oak entirely in favor of stainless steel to let the limestone terroir shine with absolute transparency. This is clarity through constraint made liquid—proof that restraint in winemaking yields the most eloquent expression of place. A benchmark village Chablis that punches well above its price.
Famille Hugel Gewürztraminer Alsace 2022
Famille Hugel
Hugel's estate-level Gewürztraminer is an ideal entry into the grape — aromatic and expressive without tipping into heaviness. The 2022 vintage shows purity of fruit and the benefit of Alsace's continental climate, where warm days and cool nights preserve acidity in a variety that can lose it. This is the bottle to pair with spiced cuisine or to enjoy on its own as an education in aromatics.
Domaine Bott-Geyl Riesling Grand Cru Mandelberg 2022
Domaine Bott-Geyl
Bott-Geyl's biodynamic approach to the Mandelberg vineyard yields a Riesling of remarkable purity. This is a wine that tastes like its origin — limestone, sun, and the careful hand of a grower who trusts the vine to speak for itself. Grand Cru Alsace at a price that remains approachable.