Winemaker Notes
The pale yellow color, tinted in green, announces a wine with a great deal of freshness and purity. The complex nose reveals floral and mineral notes with accents of fresh citrus fruits. Lively and fresh, the aromas of flowers and white fruits, blends with flint. The very soft finish evinces a great deal of minerality.
Blend: 45% Grenache Blanc, 20% Roussanne, 20% Clairette, 10% Viognier & 5% Bourboulenc
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Coming all from the estate Bec Vineyard, located in the cool, southern part of the appellation, the 2018 Costières De Nîmes Nostre Païs Blanc checks in as a mix of 45% Grenache Blanc, 20% Roussanne, 20% Clairette, and the rest Viognier and Bourboulenc, raised in old barrels and concrete tank. Readers looking for a superb white to drink over the coming 2-3 years should snatch this up. It offers terrific notes of white peach, rose petal, crushed citrus, and spice. With a touch of White Burgundy class, medium body, beautiful freshness, and a great finish, it way over-delivers. Don’t miss it.
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Wine Enthusiast
Flavors of white peach and Mirabelle plum are scintillating in this full-bodied, zesty dry white made from organically grown grapes. A blend of Grenache Blanc complemented by smaller proportions of Clairette, Viognier and Roussanne, it’s a thirst-quenching wine with a smoky, intensely mineral finish. Best now–2024.
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.