Winemaker Notes
This cuvee represents Michel Gassier's search for elegance, purity and mineral/terroir expression. Grape ripeness is not pushed to the outer limits, sorting is drastic, oak aging is kept to a minimum, and blending includes varietals of the appellation. Michel Gassier's winemaking style is as non interventionist as possible, resulting in this elegant, pure wine.
Blend: 60% Grenache, 20% Clairette, 15% Roussanne, 5% Viognier
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
One of my favorite whites from the region, as well as a year in, year out value, the 2013 Costières de Nîmes Nostre Païs Blanc is 60% Grenache Blanc (always from the same parcel) and the rest Clairette, Roussanne and Viognier. Fermented one-third in barrel and aged eight months on lees, it offers fabulous notes of stone fruits, buttered citrus, white flowers and honeysuckle to go with a medium-bodied, fresh, lively and pure style. While it doesn’t skimp on texture, the focus is more on freshness and purity.
Full-bodied and flavorful, white Rhône blends originate from France’s Rhône Valley. Today these blends are also becoming popular in other regions. Typically some combination of Grenache Blanc, Marsanne, Roussanne and Viognier form the basis of a white Rhône blend with varying degrees of flexibility depending on the exact appellation. Somm Secret—In the Northern Rhône, blends of Marsanne and Roussanne are common but the south retains more variety. Marsanne, Roussanne as well as Bourboulenc, Clairette, Picpoul and Ugni Blanc are typical.
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.