TN: 2018 Pépière Muscadet Sur Lie "La Pepie"

We’ve been fans of Pépière Muscadet since being introduced to it decades ago by Joe Godas at our local wine store. In 2007, we made an unscheduled visit to the property after a lunch of “moules et frites” in Nantes. After arriving at the property, we ended up waiting for Marc as he was off on an errand. During our wait, Jacqueline started to be bothered by stomach rumblings. She moved off to the side of one of the outbuildings where she vomited. Bad form to vomit and run, but we did. On the drive back to Argentons-Chateau we pulled over several times, Jacqueline opened the passenger door and left trail markers of vomitus along the way. Good times!

I have found the baseline Pépière Muscadet Sur Lie almost always a delicious blend of brine, lemon, stone and background fruit and herbs. It is usually quite energetic (euphemism for acid) , occasionally so much so that it is more enjoyable to drink with food than alone. I find the 2018 version to have all the usual suspect characteristics, but the energy dialed down just a bit. It is not soft, but it is softer and a pleasure to drink alone AND with food. I think it is a more versatile wine. I don’t know if that is the intent for this bottling, but I like this 2018 very much and strongly recommend it.
Anyone else out there agree or disagree?

Thanks for reading.

I have enjoyed several bottles of the 2018 La Pepie…agree that it seems a little dialed down but frankly haven’t given any thought as to why,etc…I agree that it is a very food friendly wine…Since I typically drink wine with meals or occasionally with snacks and rarely as a stand alone, can’t comment on its versatility as a stand alone quaff.

super value and great to have around

This happened to a friend’s wife a few years ago on a trip. One bad mussel is all it takes. Agree with the pepe, one of the fantastic values in wine

Pepiere is my ‘go to’ house white. Love it. Great QPR (IMO).

Do they make this every year now? I had thought this was going to be a one off, when they didn’t have enough domaine fruit for the domaine sur lie.

I’m a huge fan of Pepiere but skip the ripe years entirely.

-This is the first time I noticed “La Pepie” on the label, I just assumed it was a renaming of the regular basic sur lie . Tell me more .

-Was 2018 a “ripe year” ? That might explain the more subdued acidity and slightly rounder style, which I found atypical but enjoyable. I could see someone reacting: "Hey, wait a minute, are you sure this is a muscadet?

Thanks.

Jim,

I seem to remember that due to hail they had a short crop in maybe ‘16, so they bought some fruit to add to the domaine fruit and added the “la Pepie” designation. Maybe this has now become standard practice, I’m not sure.

I have to imagine the 2018 is a ripe year, as it was very hot in most of France. Your note also sounds very consistent with what I find in these wines in the riper vintages. They can still be enjoyable but they always seem to lack something without that electric acidity I find in the better years. 2015 for instance was not very good IMO, even the Briords.

Michael, Thanks and you might enjoy reading the response I just received to an inquiry on the subject that I sent to the Domaine [cheers.gif] -Jim

Domaine de la Pépière <earl.lapepiere@orange.fr>
Thu 11/21/2019 2:14 AM

Hi Jim,

I’m totally agree with you, the vintage 2018 is differente is not a classic vintage.
During the years 2018, we have a lot of sun and warm, and after that the berry have lot of sugar and a lot of concentration .
When you haved present during the year the wine at the proffesionnal tasting , we haved said often: “the vintage is type south of France”

We don’t have change the work, only the climat( weather) was différente.

Rémi Branger (sorry for my english)

I was in Pittsburgh last Thursday to watch the Steelers/Browns game and popped a bottle of the 2017 with my 31 y/o son, who lives there. He normally will have maybe a glass of wine, and sips it throughout the evening. We had some cocktail shrimp (and sauce) along with the bottle, and he loved it, draining the bottle with me in no time.

Great stuff and an awesome QPR. I was pleasantly surprised to have found this at the PA State Store, and grabbed all 3 bottles that they had.

Yes, thanks for posting that Jim! Very interesting to hear Remi’s take on it. South of France vintage in muscadel is, for me, one to skip, but I appreciate the winemaker input for sure.

Your earlier note mentions round, and while that term is used often, I find it particularly telling in muscadet. In warm vintages, and for simply inferior muscadet, there is a roundness which smoothes out the cut I want in those wines, leaving something tiring in its place. Vintage reports for 2019 say warm weather and a very short crop (50% of normal) due to frost yet again. So it may be another difficult vintage for my tastes. I should probably try to backfill 2017 if I see any.

“Round”, as in smoothing out the sharp edges, yes that does seem to fit. But in your case, you especially value the “edginess” in the muscadet, so “round” is not an inviting descriptor. Maybe you would find the 2018 La Pepie “tiring” given your preferences, but if you are willing to reset your expectations and give a bottle a test drive, I’d be very interested in your observations. I found it atypical, but very enjoyable.

I had a bottle of the 2019 La Pepiere ‘La Pepie’ [Muscadet Sevre et Maine sur Lie] over 3 days and enjoyed it, although it felt atypical. It’s light bodied - 12% abv - but is round and only medium acid to my tastes. I assumed it would have been high pitched and zingy, like a typical Muscadet, but it’s a friendly effort that doesn’t need any food, fruit etc. A little grapefruit, lemonade, and hospital pre surgery room smells here. I wonder if its the vintage, or bought in grapes, or global warming. Presumably it should not age as long as typical Pepiere’s as it doesn’t feel like the spine is there. In my ledger, a B, and although enjoyable, not a repurchase.