Dom. de la Pepiere Muscadet Clos de Briords Vielles Vignes 2005

The most complex, ageworthy white wine you will ever buy for under $20? Quite possibly. Minerally, complex, high-acid white wine. This wine is something of a legend among wine geeks - try and bottle and you'll see why.

Winemaker and grower Marc Ollivier takes his time to make his Muscadet. He hand harvests (a rarity in the region), uses natural yeasts, waits for the wine to finish fermentation, and bottles with a very light filtration. His Muscadet has a bright color; a slightly bubbly, round and supple mouthfeel with sound structure; and a clean and fruity finish.

Clos des Briords is Marc's finest Muscadet. It comes from a single plot of 50-year old vines planted in schist (shale). Marc is the only grower in Muscadet who does not have a single clonal selection vine (commonly used toincrease yield) in his vineyards. He propagates vines from the bud wood of the existing ones. His wines are kept on the yeast twice as long as those of his neighbors. The resulting wine is an extraordinary Muscadet. This wine has citrus-lime and wet stone aromas. On the palate it has bracing lemon mineral flavors that keep on going.