Domaine de la Pepiere 'La Pépiè' Cabernet Franc, 2020

Marc Ollivier’s first commercial vintage of Pépière was 1985; his wines were also Denyse Louis and Joe Dressner’s first Loire imports. In the decades since, Pépière has become the standard-bearer for naturally grown Muscadet, a region where historically little consideration was given to chemical-free agriculture, individual terroir expression or the potential ageability of the wines. Pépière’s various sites are rich in granite and gneiss in differing stages of decomposition into sand, clay and rocks; the vines range in age from 20 to over 100 years old. Farming is organic; yields are kept low; harvest and all other work is by hand (all rare in the region). Fruit is harvested and pressed in whole clusters; long, slow fermentations take place with indigenous yeasts and minimal sulfur in the cold cellar. Each wine ages sur lie, mainly in underground tanks, with extended lees contact for the cru bottlings, and is bottled without fining or filtering. Their intensity, complexity and age-worthiness defy Muscadet stereotypes—and Ollivier has taken on partners Rémi Branger and Gwénaëlle Croix over the last decade to help ensure that the high Pépière standard is maintained well into the future.