2022 Domaine de la Pépière Muscadet Sèvre et Maine 'Briords' Vieilles Vignes

First produced in 1988, this great Muscadet is made from a three hectare parcel of old massale-selection vines (all over 60 years old, with a high percentage much older) on a slope above the Maine. The bedrock is Granite de Château Thébaud, a fissured rock that allows the vines to penetrate deeply, with ideal thin topsoils of clay, with sand and gravel allowing good drainage. The 2022 Briords is beautifully defined on the nose with aromas of menthol, iodine, white orchard fruits and verbena. Perfectly balanced and medium-bodied, satiny and mineral, it’s tense with bright acids and concludes with a mineral finish of crushed stones. This is a stunning, energetic, delicately tangy wine made from vines planted on granodiorite. 92 points. The Wine Advocate.