Blanquette de Limoux AOC

The appellation for sparkling wines is located in the Aude département in the west of the French wine-growing region of Languedoc and is identical to the Limoux area. It was already classified as an AOC in 1938 and belongs to the second quality category "Grands Vins du Languedoc". A document from 1531 reports that a sparkling wine was produced here long before Champagne by the Benedictine monks of Saint-Hilaire Abbey. Incidentally, they were already using corks made of oak bark. The sparkling wine is produced from at least 90% Blanquette (Mauzac Bl anc), as well as possibly the varieties Chenin Bl anc and Chardonnay, by means of bottle fermentation in all degrees of sweetness.

The Blanquette Méthode Ancestrale variant applies to a sparkling wine produced in small quantities using the "old method" from 100% Blanquette (Mauzac Blanc). The sparkling wine mentioned in 1531 was probably also produced in this way. In this process, the young wine, which has not quite finished fermenting, is bottled and finishes fermenting there (so it is not a second fermentation in the bottle). The sweet wine is less foaming and somewhat cloudy because the residues remain in the bottle. Another AOC for sparkling wine is Crémant de Limoux. The AOC Limoux applies to still wines. Well-known producers are Antech, Domaine de Froin, Guinot, Domaine Laffond, Robert and Sieur d'Arques.