Pépière 2019 Muscadet Sevre et Maine Cru Chateau Thebaud

The Château Thébaud comes from old vines in vineyards with great terroir on slopes overlooking the river Maine. The granite here (Granite de Château Thébaud, oddly enough) is fissured and permeable by the vine roots which have access to water during dry spells and absorb micro-nutrients along the way.  2009, 2010, 2012 and 2014 here were among the best of the vintage in Muscadet and the 2019 will stand out as well due to the combination of density and minerality with the firm acidity and great ripeness of this very good vintage year for Muscadet. Our tasting in February revealed a superb Muscadet, not marked by the heat of the vintage, showing crystalline white fruit and stone flavors with firm acidity, fantastic purity, density and length. Of course this will offer briliant drinking as a young wine, but try to put some away for ten years at least. Here is Chris Kissacks superb review:  "I find it difficult not to swoon over the aromatic profile, which offers exactly what a cru Muscadet should offer, combining as it does a crushed-stone minerality with layers of bitter citrus fruits, white pepper and tarragon herbs. There is a beautifully tense and composed character on the palate, succulent, acid-fresh yet textural, with a simply beautiful slide into a lightly polished finish. This feels so delightfully harmonious and complete, yet also substantial and long. In short, it is an absolute delight; one of the best examples of Château-Thébaud, if not the entire cru communal system, that I can recall tasting. I look forward to seeing how this turns out with age – if I can keep my hands off it." David Lillie