Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A bright, well-driven and tactile chardonnay with apples, spiced plums, baking spices and a touch of nougat on the nose. It’s medium-bodied with fresh and vivid acidity. Plenty of juicy character with an elegant texture and a succulent center palate. It’s driven and focused, yet it remains agile. Lively finish with generous citrus character and length. Drink or hold.
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Wine Enthusiast
This Chardonnay is restrained with an attractive purse of flavors. Rich, layered orchard fruit leads on the nose followed by dried orange peel, golden apple, white peach and quince. Streaks of creaminess on the midpalate unlock orange blossom that floats to a finish lifted by bright acidity
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Jeb Dunnuck
All Chardonnay from Limoux, the 2022 Limoux Blanc sports a light gold/green-tinged hue followed by ripe citrus, tart tangerines, honeyed flowers, and subtle spice nuances. Medium-bodied and nicely balanced, with bright acidity and plenty of texture.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Notes of verbena, oak, flowers and lemon preface the 2022 Limoux Chardonnay from Domaine de Baronarques, a medium to full-bodied, round and supple white with a phenolic structure and an oaky frame on the mid-palate that segues into a long, toasty and honey-inflected finish.
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.