This full-flavoured, dry sparkling wine is great value in terms of pleasure per pound/dollar/euro and pleasure per sip: a snip at between £7.50 and £9 in the UK and also available in a few places in the US and the rest of Europe (see below for international stockists).It’s a blend of 60% Chardonnay, 30% Chenin, 5% Mauzac and 5% Pinot Noir and made by the traditional method, ie the second fermentation takes place in the bottle and the wine gathers up those lovely additional yeasty brioche flavours by resting for more than a year on the yeast lees before the sediment is removed.
The town and appellation of Limoux are in the far south of France, south-west of Carcassonne and in the eastern foothills of the Pyrenees. Although Limoux is not that far from the Mediterranean coast, the land is high enough to be influenced by the Atlantic as well as by the Mediterranean, bringing cooling temperatures that add finesse and freshness to the varieties that make up this blend and to the final wine. However, the southerly location of the vineyards means that this is a rounder, fruitier wine than most sparkling wines made further north in France.
As soon as you put your nose in the glass you are hit by the deliciously inviting aromas of freshly baked apples and cream, with brioche and a lovely undertow of lemon, then more apples and citrus aromas as the wine opens up and the bubbles calm down. In fact, although the bubbles are perfectly respectable, they don’t last that long. What it lacks in length it makes up for in fulness of flavour and sheer pleasure.
In the mouth, the flavours are quite broad, full of fresh apples spiked with citrus, yet there’s very good freshness too. Mouthfilling and just a touch creamy to balance the acidity. There's a feast of bottle-fermented flavours and a slight softness that should appeal to those who enjoy the complexity of champagne but find it just a little too crisp, yet it still has a palate-cleansing freshness to finish.
Delicious on its own, and all too easy to quaff (just 12% alcohol), I think it would go very well with fish in many guises, including fish and chips.
Laurens’ agent in France, Alexander Krossa, lists the following international stockists: in the UK, Averys (Bristol), Alex Riley (Cambridge); in the US, Vignernon Imports (Oakland, CA), European Wine Imports (Cleveland OH) and La Ville Imports (NY); in Belgium, Terre et Viin (Maransart), Charles Grisar (Hemiksem), Magnus Wijnen (Deurne), De Wijngerd (Hasselt), Euroboissons (Pin Izel); in the Netherlands, Okhuysen (Haarlem), Alex Storms (Maertens-Heythuysen); in Germany, WeinDepot France, Chez Daniel, and Scholzen; in Canada, SAQ.
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