Pépière
"Pioneered by the avuncular Marc Ollivier and now run with help from his former apprentice, Rémi Branger (from another Muscadet family), Pépière has been a source for organically farmed, single-vineyard and single-cru bottlings since before anyone knew what those were." —Jon Bonné, PUNCH, March 2018
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.
Click here for the domaine's own website
Click here for an extensive interview with Marc Ollivier, as well as detailed estate visit notes, from Jules Dressner of importer Louis/Dressner
Image | PRODUCT | Description |
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![]() DB8905-18 Organic |
Muscadet Sèvre-et-Maine Sur Lie "La Pépie" 2018 |
Melon de Bourgogne 100% Melon de Bourgogne. In 2016 for the first time, Pépière's classic, earliest-released Sur Lie bottling saw an addition to the label,... Read More |
![]() DB8966-18 Organic |
Clos des Briords Muscadet Sèvre-et-Maine 2018 |
Melon de Bourgogne 100% Melon de Bourgogne. Clos des Briords is a lieu-dit in which Marc has long held 3 hectares of massale vines planted from 1930 to 1950.... Read More |
![]() DB0331-17 Organic 90 WS |
Gras Moutons Muscadet Sèvre-et-Maine Sur Lie 2017 |
Melon de Bourgogne 100% Melon de Bourgogne. First bottled in 2007, the “Fat Sheep” is a lieu-dit made up of 2 parcels totalling 1.7 hectares in the... Read More |
![]() DB8353-14 Organic |
Château Thébaud Clos des Morines Muscadet Sèvre-et-Maine 2014 |
Melon de Bourgogne 100% Melon de Bourgogne. Clos des Morines is a lieu-dit in the cru of Château Thébaud. It came into Pépière world via... Read More |
![]() DB8353-15 Organic |
Château Thébaud Clos des Morines Muscadet Sèvre-et-Maine 2015 |
Melon de Bourgogne 100% Melon de Bourgogne. Clos des Morines is a lieu-dit in the cru of Château Thébaud. It came into Pépière world via... Read More |
![]() DB2006-15 Organic |
Monnières-Saint Fiacre Muscadet Sèvre-et-Maine 2015 |
Melon de Bourgogne 100% Melon de Bourgogne. Pépière has vines in a couple of different zones of the cru of Monnières-St.-Fiacre (including the lieu-dit... Read More |
![]() DB5800-15 Organic |
Gorges Muscadet Sèvre-et-Maine 2015 |
Melon de Bourgogne 100% Melon de Bourgogne.This is the second vintage of this cru wine for Pépière. The estate does not hold vines in Gorges but sourced fruit... Read More |
![]() DB0545-18 Organic |
La Pépiè Cabernet Franc 2018 |
Cabernet Franc 100% Cabernet Franc. Only three of Pépière's 43 certifed-organic hectares of vines are planted to black grapes: Côt and Cabernet Franc (... Read More |
DB0546-18 Organic |
La Pépiè Côt 2018 |
Côt 100% Côt aka Malbec. Only three of Pépière's 43 certifed-organic hectares of vines are planted to black grapes: Côt and Cabernet Franc (... Read More |