From: Loire Valley, France
Varietal: 100% Côt (Malbec)

Taste: A delicious red to chill and enjoy year-round! Aromas of blackcurrants, raspberries, plums, and earth. On the palate, medium-bodied with smooth tannins, its friendly fruit reigned with a refreshing acidity that leads to a spicy finish and further flavors of redcurrants, red plum skin, and herbs.

Pairing: Exceptionally food-friendly, this wine shines alongside patés, terrines, ham sandwiches, and grilled or poached salmon. Other ideas for pairing include Cuban-styled Lechon Asado (Roasted Pork), Spanish Chorizo, black pepper skillet steak bites, pineapple Teriyaki salmon with orange zest, Greek-styled creamy lamb meatballs (this inspired us to share the recipe below!), baked Teriyaki duck sauce salmon bites, or chicken or beef Teriyaki.

Spiced Lamb Meatballs With Yogurt and Herbs
By David Tanis

This wine. 100% Côt. Only 3 of Pépière's 43 certifed-biodynamic hectares of vines are planted to black grapes: Côt, Merlot and Cabernet Franc (known locally as Breton). They are in the 10-hectare "home" vineyard in Clisson, known best for the Muscadet from its granite soils de Bourgogne but where a gentle slope with a bit of clay and a southwestern exposure suit the black varieties. The grapes are harvested by hand, destemmed and gently crushed, with only the free-run juice used for the wine. It is fermented spontaneously with indigenous yeasts, followed by 5-6 months of aging in stainless steel tanks. The wine is classified as a Vin de Pays de la Loire, as there is no allowance for red wine in the Muscadet AOC. 

Now, on to the producer! Thank you to importer Louis/Dressner and Jules Dressner for this profile of Pépière, please click here to check it out.