INSIDER'S PICK: 2023 DOMAINE LA PEPIERE MUSCADET SEVRE ET MAINE 'LA PEPIE' $21.99

Another week of Insider's Picks, another white wine brought back from the brink of mediocrity at the hands of a visionary. Much like the Spanish Verdejo of two weeks ago, the Melon de Bourgogne grape that makes up Muscadet in France was long thought to be a very simple grape. Light, higher acid and without a lot of natural intensity, it spent most of its existence creating extremely straightforward, largely uninspiring wines that only served to compliment the oysters and seafood of the region. Enter Marc Ollivier, owner/winemaker of the Domaine, who in the late 80s became one of the first producers of 100% estate grown wines in Muscadet, and began focus on the unique and subtle subdistricts, creating single vineyard wines from several of the oldest parcels in the appellation. Most importantly, he began to emphasize extensive 'sur lie' aging for all his wines, where the wine is kept on the yeasts and fine particles of the grape after fermenting to add body and texture. It's a time-consuming process, and almost nobody thought Muscadet was worthy of the effort, but thankfully Ollivier saw beyond that. With some of the bottlings now approaching near-ludicrously long sur lie time before bottling, the process is now the norm for any decent Muscadet and has influenced many white wine producers around the world. This is their 'entry level' wine made from blending their estate fruit with a few adjacent friendly vineyards, but speaks of everything wonderful about Muscadet. Light lemon and seashell aromas with a distant crunchy pear skin tone, seemingly straightforward at first. The big win for this wine is on the palate where all that lees aging really shows its stuff, pulling surprising body out of thin air without compromising the dry citrus zing and almost salt water tone on the finish. It adds length, intensity, and makes it beyond perfect for peak Spring oysters, or pretty much any briny seafood you can think of.  ​

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