Winemaker Notes
A blend of mostly Grenache with a touch of Roussanne, Vermentino and Clairette grown in the rare limestone soil of the area. The northern exposure of this terroir provides a cooler environment for the vines and inflicts the harsher extremes of the Mediterranean summer. This northern site also lends a substantial vivacity to the wines which is guarded throughout its wine-making process by a rigorous temperature control preserving all of its natural fruit and freshness. Fermented and aged in stainless steel.
Professional Ratings
-
Tasting Panel
The taste of chalk is prevalent in this blend of Grenache Blanc, Roussanne, and Rolle from stony limestone soils known as “grès.” Following luscious, ripe notes of baked pear, chamomile, and cashew butter, lemon blossom weighs in, backed by the stoney component that characterizes this white.
Producing full-bodied white wines, Grenache Blanc can be unctuous and soft or floral and fresh. Some of the finest examples are terroir-driven, age-worthy wines. It is a key ingredient in white Châteauneuf-du-Pape and many white blends across southern France and NE Spain. Somm Secret—Grenache Blanc plays a key role in the vins doux naturels of Rivesaltes and a subsidiary role in those of Banyuls and Maury.
Gently rolling hills covered by large, round stones on south-facing slopes, Costieres de Nimes is a substantial IGP zone that was formerly considered part of the Languedoc. Today it is included as a section of the southern Rhone; its climate, topography and wines put it more in line with that appellation. Grenache is its most important red variety, along with Mourvedre, Syrah and Carignan. Half of the production here is rosé.