Winemaker Notes
The wine presents an attractive pale yellow color with aromas of citrus fruit, preserved lemon zest, white blossom, verbena, and brioche on the complex and intense nose. A clean and fresh opening leads into an expansive, full-bodied, and voluptuous mid-palate, where its richness is beautifully balanced by remarkable freshness. Layers of ripe fruit, honey, and acacia blossom with subtle notes of toast evolve gracefully, culminating in an exceptionally long and mineral-driven finish.
Blend: 95% Chardonnay, 5% Chenin
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Peaches and melons with zesty lemon and flowers, such as honeysuckle. Full, yet so vivid, bright and minerally.
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Wine Enthusiast
Lovely aromas of white peaches and flowers on the nose. Approachable and crisp, the palate is loaded with concentrated flavors of passion fruit, lemon, subtle notes of vanilla and mouth-watering acidity.
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Decanter
Balancing the purity of citrus fruit with a plush, opulent texture, this shows a serious side that comes with meticulous winemaking. Flashes of honeysuckle mix with green apple and crab apple characters. There's a flinty reduction and a touch of char on the finish, but the fruit is very pure and appetizing. This has a long life ahead.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Evoking notes of pear, spices, spring flowers, citrus, honeysuckle, and licorice, intertwined with hints of oak, the 2021 Limoux Chardonnay has a juicy, supple palate with bright acids and a moderately weighted structure, making it an easy-drinking wine. This is a blend of 98% Chardonnay and 2% Chenin Blanc, matured for eight months in French oak barrels.
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Wine Spectator
A dense, savory white, with a rich display of green apple and pear flavors flecked with blanched almond, salt and baking spice accents. Rich and creamy on the palate, with slight chalkiness, thanks to salty mineral elements -- all powered by lemon-lime acidity and lingering details of green herb oil. Chardonnay and Chenin Blanc.
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
While Limoux also produces both white and red wines, it is ultimately recognized as a sparkling wine zone. Blanquette de Limoux is the region’s original sparkler, which is based on Mauzac with small amounts of Chardonnay and/or Chenin Blanc. The more rustic and traditional version, Blanquette Méthode Ancestrale, is an often cloudy and sweeter sparkling wine made exclusively from Mauzac.
In the 1990s, the region created the more modern, Crémant de Limoux, for international markets.