Winemaker Notes
Lou Coucardié Blanc is resolutely Mediterranean combining fruit and spice with a rich but vibrant texture.
Blend: 40% Grenache Blanc, 40% Roussanne, 20% Viognier
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
From the Bec vineyard located in the southern part of the appellation, the 2016 Costières de Nîmes Blanc Lou Coucardié is another tour de force from this appellation. Buttered apple, orange blossom, hints of apricot and spice all give way to rich, fleshy, yet fresh and pure white that's going to shine on the dinner table. This cuvée is 40% each of Grenache Blanc and Roussanne, with the balance Viognier, aged on lees in 500-liter barrels.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Despite being fully barrel fermented in mainly new oak, the 2016 Costieres de Nimes Blanc Lou Coucardie shows very little overt wood. Instead, this blend of Viognier, Roussanne and Grenache Blanc delivers aromas of crushed shells and fresh flowers, ample stone fruit and pear flavors and a lingering citrus and ginger-spiced finish. It's medium to full-bodied but carries its weight well, never seeming heavy, and finishing fresh and clean.
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Wine Enthusiast
Whiffs of crushed stone, smoke and bramble open into white melon and peach on the palate of this full-throttle blend of Roussanne, Grenache Blanc and Viognier. It’s a mouthfilling, juicy sip with an elegant brace of bitters on the finish. Drink now–2023.
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Wine Spectator
Bright yellow apple and melon flavors are kissed with brioche and salted butter notes, ending with a hint of verbena. Flattering wine. Roussanne, Grenache Blanc, Clairette and Viognier. Drink now through 2020. 820 cases made, 185 cases imported.
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.