Winemaker Notes
Representing the topmost expression of a Champagne house, a vintage Champagne is one made from the produce of a single, superior harvest year. Vintage Champagnes account for a mere 5% of total Champagne production and are produced about three times in a decade. Champagne is typically made as a blend of multiple years in order to preserve the house style; these will have non-vintage, or simply, NV on the label. The term, "vintage," as it applies to all wine, simply means a single harvest year.
Blanquette de Limoux AOC wines preserve the Limousin tradition of making sparkling winennamely from the local Mauzac grape. Made in the labor-intensive Méthode Traditionelle (the same used in Champagne) which produces the finest sparkling wines, their grapes come from high-altitude Pyrenean vineyards where the cool air lets the grapes retain the acidity necessary to make a good bubblies. Leaner than their Crémant de Limoux cousins (which are made of Chenin Blanc and Chardonnay), they show crisp apple and pear, balanced by a warm yeasty character. Representing a centuries-old heritage in sparklers, these wines can be great values.