Domaine de la Pépière Quatre (#4) Muscadet Sèvre et Maine 2010
Last night we drank this with some grilled halibut. Terrific match. The wine is a blend of grapes from two vineyards. About 2/3rds reportedly from Chateau Thébaud which are old vines on granite subsoil, and about a third of the grapes are sourced from the cru Clisson, again older vines in granite. The wine is aged 4 years on the lees, hence the name Quatre.
It has typical aromas of Muscadet, yellow fruits, the saline minerally thing, a bit of citrus/grapefruit. The mouth and texture is noticeably different. The long lees aging give the wine more texture, some creaminess. It has good acidity, but it’s not as electric as Briords for instance. 12.5% alcohol. It has a savory, slight bitterness at the finish, lemon pith. The body comes from the lees aging and not high alcohol, maybe the extra time on the lees adds gycerol.
I liked this a lot, although for fans of the higher acid Muscadet, like Briords or even the Clisson bottling from Pépière, it may not be your thing.
I’ve read that some feel this can age well. I’m not certain about that. I think the prolonged lees aging gives the wine the texture now you would achieve with aging a bottle of Briords.
But this might age into something nice too. Time will tell.
This was $23 full retail. A screaming bargain for the quality of the wine and the time put into this bottle.