Clos des Briords is located on the hillsides of the river Maine, a tributary of the Loire. The site totals 4.40 hectares and the vines were planted between 1950 and 1989, with the vast majority between 50 and 70 years old. These are the oldest vines of the estate and planted on soils of "granite de Thébaud"
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)
Producer notes: "The sole white wine of the estate is produced in the Roero district from an 0.80 hectare plot in Vezza d’Alba. The soil is essentially sandy in composition and sits at 340 meters altitude on south-facing slopes. The vineyard was planted in 1980. Harvest (manual) normally occurs in mid-September. The grapes are briefly macerated and the fermentation occurs at controlled temperatures (around 15 degrees Celsius) for two to three weeks. The wine rests in stainless steel until the early spring months of the following year and is usually released to the market, after several months of bottle aging, in late summer/early fall
At the very end of a long tasting, winemaker Leto Paraskevopoulos offered me a small glass of the Gai'a NV Nemea Ritinitis Nobilis, and the effect was brilliant. The wine refreshed and immediately reset my palate. This is a "redefined" Retsina, or a wine ...
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...