Wine & Spirits - June 2021 - 66

Focus
LanguedocRoussillon
S PA RK L I N G
524449

90 | Côté Mas

$19

90 | Pierre

$21

Vin de France Chardonnay Blanc de
Blancs ^ Creamy, lemony and herbal, with a
steady stream of fine bubbles, this is a Mediterranean-accented sparkler for roast snapper. § Taub Family Selections, Boca Raton, FL
524448
2018 Blanquette de Limoux Brut Nature
Mauzac ^ With its fine bubbles and leesy richness, this packs a lot of sophisticated flavor
for $21. It's spicy and rich, with a yellowapple snap that keeps it bright and dry. § Sera
Wine Imports, NY
524476

87 | Réserve de Beausoleil $14

Blanquette de Limoux Premier Brut 1531
(Best Buy) ^ Round and ripe, with toasty redapple flavors, this is built for bacon and eggs
at brunch. § Scoperta Importing Co., Cleveland
Heights, OH

L AN G U E D O C W HIT E
524425

92 | Laroque

$25

2019 Cité de Carcassonne Chardonnay ^
This comes from the clay-limestone soils
around the hilltop town of Carcassonne,
where the vines reap the contrasting benefits of cool Atlantic winds and warm Mediterranean breezes. It captures a sense of both
in the succulence of its lemony fruit and its
fresh acidity, with a hint of salinity. § Aquitaine
Wine Co., NY
525459

92 | Château Martinolles

$28

2020 Limoux Blanc Vieilles Vignes ^ Based
on chardonnay grown on Limoux's high,
cool, limestone-laced hills, this is full-bodied
and fresh. Barrel fermentation adds a toasty
warmth to the flavors, but it remains bright
and clean, with crisp pear, bright orange and
lavender notes lasting long. § Wine Traditions,
Falls Church, VA
524429

91 | Toques & Clochers

$17

2018 Limoux Haute Vallée Chardonnay
(Best Buy) ^ A brand from the Sieur d'Arques
66

WINE & SPIRITS

JUNE 2021

Our blind panels tasted 439 new-release
Languedoc-Roussillon wines for this issue.
Tara Q. Thomas, our critic for the region,
rated 84 as exceptional (90+) and 34 as
Best Buys. Find a complete list of wines
tasted and all reviews at
wineandspiritsmagazine.com.

cooperative, this comes from vineyards in
the southwest of Limoux, where the hills rise
over 1,300 feet in altitude. Ninety-percent
whole-bunch pressed, the other ten macerated on the skins for a day, and all of it fermented with ambient yeasts, it's full-bodied
yet brisk, with crisp golden-apple flavors and
grapefruit acidity. Nine months in oak adds
a light spice. § DHI Selections, NY
525404

91 | Domaine de Nizas

$17

2019 Languedoc Grand Vin Blanc (Best
Buy) ^ John Goelet, of Clos de Val in Napa and
Taltarni in Australia, founded this estate near
Pézenas in 1998; François Lurton acquired
it in 2018, retaining Goelet and his business
partner Bernard Portet as technical advisors. It covers 100 planted acres, slated to
be certified organic in 2023; this is a blend
of the estate's top white-wine grapes: roussanne (fermented in oak), vermentino and
viognier (fermented in stainless steel). It's
as plush and golden as a pound cake, with
toasty lemon and vanilla notes in a rich, gentle texture, yet the acidity carries the wine
with ease. A big white, it needs something
fairly hearty to match, like lobster or buttery
chanterelles. § Old Bridge Cellars, Napa, CA
525458

91 | Paul Mas Réserve

$20

2020 Languedoc Single Vineyard Collection Blanc ^ A blend of grenache blanc, marsanne, vermentino and viognier grown near
Pézenas, this is firm and full in structure
and delicate in flavor. With its raw-almond
breadth and notes of flowers and herbs, it
gives a sense of the stony, garrigue-scented
south of France. § Volio Imports, Denver, CO
525347

90 | Ch. de Caraguilhes

$30

2020 Corbières La Font Blanche ^ This is
equal parts roussanne and grenache blanc,
with 20 percent vermentino, all organically
grown. It starts out silky and quiet, then gathers detail with air, notes of peach, pear and
herbs coalescing around an almond center.
Give this a few more months in bottle to settle into itself, then pour with grilled fish. § BNP
Distributing Co., NY
524447

90 | Domaine Delsol

$15

90 | Alma Cersius

$15

90 | Le Jade

$17

88 | Alma Cersius

$13

87 | Dom. du Sacré Coeur

$15

2019 Picpoul de Pinet Réserve (Best Buy) ^
This is richer than many picpouls, with a
yellow-apple juiciness, yet it still offers the
region's trademark mouthwatering salinity.
For fried fish. § Scoperta Importing Co., Cleveland Heights, OH
524450
2020 Coteaux de Béziers In Vino Erotico
Blanc (Best Buy) ^ From a cooperative of 160
growers in Béziers, this blend of chardonnay,
sauvignon blanc and viognier drinks like a
Rhône white, satiny and rich, with creamy,
lightly floral flavors of pear and Meyer
lemon. § Wine Wine Situation, Los Angeles, CA
524444
2019 Languedoc Chardonnay ^ From the
Les Costières de Pomerols cooperative, this
is silky in texture and well upholstered with
oak flavor, but fruit wins out in the end,
clean, lemony and spicy. § Kysela Père et Fils,
Winchester, VA
524465
2020 Coteaux de Béziers Gardian Chardonnay Sauvignon Vermentino (Best Buy) ^
Sauvignon blanc speaks out in this blend,
with its grassy, herbal notes. It's clean and
refreshing, with a saline edge. § Wine Wine Situation, Los Angeles, CA
524474
2019 St-Chinian Blanc (Best Buy) ^ Blending
grenache blanc, marsanne, roussanne and
viognier, this balances its floral notes with
an earthy savor. It's round and smooth, with
a slightly bitter edge that adds contour. § Misa
Imports, Dallas, TX

ROUSSILLON WHITE
524634

94 | Domaine de l'Edre

$55

2017 Côtes du Roussillon Villages Roussanne ^ Jacques Castany and Pascal Dieunidou made this wine entirely from old-vine
roussanne, the yield less than two tons per
acre. Half fermented in stainless steel, the
other in year-old oak casks with regular lees
http://www.wineandspiritsmagazine.com
Wine & Spirits - June 2021

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