Pepin - 'Crémant' - Auxerrois, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay - Alsace, FR - 2021
Regular price $43.00
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Request a Case OrderNotes from the Winery/Importer
So great. By the glass only at Satellite!
Notes on the Producer
No Additives. Just perfect wines from Alsace.
Grapes & Style
Pinot Blanc
Pinot Blanc is a white mutation in the Pinot family, grown in Alsace, Germany, Austria, northern Italy, and beyond. It’s generally quieter than Chardonnay and less aromatic than Pinot Gris, but its strength is balance: gentle fruit, clean texture, and easy adaptability.
In the vineyard, Pinot Blanc performs well in cool to moderate climates and can make anything from simple fresh whites to more textured, lees-aged wines. It often works best when the winemaking lets its subtlety stay intact rather than covering it with too much oak or ripeness.
In the glass, Pinot Blanc often shows apple, pear, lemon, white flowers, almond, and a soft chalky or creamy texture. The best versions are understated, polished, and highly useful with food.
Pinot Gris
Pinot Gris is a pink-skinned mutation of Pinot, best known today through two very different identities: Pinot Grigio in Italy and Pinot Gris in Alsace and other richer styles. It’s part of the same Pinot family as Pinot Noir, Pinot Blanc, and Pinot Meunier, but it usually behaves as a white wine grape in the cellar.
In the vineyard, Pinot Gris ripens relatively early and can build sugar quickly, which means style depends heavily on picking decisions and site. In cooler or earlier-picked versions, it stays fresh and crisp; in warmer or later-picked versions, it becomes fuller, spicier, and more textured.
In the glass, Pinot Gris can range from clean, citrusy, and light to rich, broad, and aromatic. Italian Pinot Grigio is often dry and straightforward, while Alsace Pinot Gris can show pear, peach, honey, smoke, spice, and a more substantial body. The best examples have enough acidity and savory detail to keep the richness in check.
Chardonnay
Chardonnay is one of the great white grapes of Burgundy, and one of the most widely planted wine grapes in the world. It has a long history in eastern France, especially Burgundy and Champagne, and DNA work shows it as part of the same broad Pinot and Gouais Blanc family that gave us grapes like Gamay and Aligoté. It’s adaptable, easy enough to grow in many places, and capable of producing everything from simple everyday whites to some of the most ageworthy white wines in the world.
In the vineyard, Chardonnay buds and ripens relatively early, which makes it useful in cooler climates but vulnerable to spring frost. It tends to do especially well on limestone and calcareous clay, and its relatively neutral fruit profile gives site and cellar choices a lot of room to show. Malolactic fermentation, lees aging, barrel fermentation, and oak can all shape the final wine dramatically.
In the glass, Chardonnay can be lean, saline, and citrus-driven, or broad, textured, and orchard-fruited, depending on where it’s grown and how it’s made. Chablis shows the steely, high-acid side; the Côte de Beaune shows depth, texture, and savory complexity; Champagne shows its value as a sparkling-wine base. Good Chardonnay is less about one fixed flavor than about balance, texture, and the way it carries place.