Here’s the open, obvious secret: Lauer’s “Senior” is one of the of the greatest values in German wine, and frankly white wine, period. While Lauer considers this a village-level wine (special Lauer label-reading tip: any bottle with a green circle on it is considered a village-level wine), the “Senior” is in fact a single-vineyard wine sourced completely from the Grand Cru Kupp. With an average vine age of around 70 years and a plethora of ungrafted vines, this is a wine that punches well above its price. It is Grand Cru for the price of village, plain and simple.
The dreamy 2020 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo seduces with a classic bouquet of crushed rocks, violets, lavender, hints of blood orange and nuanced strawberry fruits. It envelopes the palate with textural, ripe wild berries that give way to a caking of miner...
The 2019 Vernaccia di San Gimignano Fiore offers yellow flowers, orchard fruit, dried flowers, almonds and tangerine peel. Varietal notes are given an extra kick of richness, yielding a Vernaccia with lovely mid-palate creaminess and light tropical accent...
In 2016, Pépière's classic, earliest-release bottling saw an addition to the label, the "La Pépie" moniker, because of the necessity of adding non-estate fruit to the production (Pépière had 85% of their own crop devastated in 2016 due to mildew). It marks the first time the estate has purchased fruit.
It comes from neighboring parcels that match their terroirs and work philosophy. The wine is a combination of said purchased fruit and estate fruit, 50% of which comes from vineyards that could technically produce cru bottlings.
-Importer notes (Dressner)
The 2019 Château-Thébaud from Domaine de la Pépière (matured 42 months in tanks) is finesse and elegance incarnate. Revealing aromas of lemon, spring flowers, menthol and pear, it’s chiseled and taut, perfectly balanced and moderately weighted. The finish...