Our wine topic today is a budget sparkler with a cool story. The year was 1531. At the abbey of Saint-Hilaire at the base of the Pyrenees, some monks noticed that bubbles appeared in casks of fermenting white wine. They documented their findings and worked out methods for production and distribution.
Thus, Saint-Hilaire is France’s oldest sparkling wine. Those funky monks pioneered the craft of sparkling wine a full 100 years before Champagne’s industry got poppin.’
Noted wine collector Thomas Jefferson had Blanquette de Limoux in his cellar. It was known as the wine of kings and aristocrats long before the startup bros of Champagne excelled in marketing French bubbly as a luxury good.
But is firsties also besties? I opened this bottle for a special occasion, hoping it would satisfy both my Champagne taste and sparkling-wine budget.
Well? It certainly looks festive! A satisfying “pop,” and gentle pour, and bubbles rise up vigorously through the straw-colored liquid.
There’s…not a lot happening on the nose. Green apple, some lemon curd. Fairly thin texture. It’s not as sharply acidic as Champagne, but it’s very dry. It’s on the drier side of Brut, baaarrrreely detectable sweetness. Simple flavors of citrus (lemon/orange peel), apple, and pear. A hint of unbuttered white toast. The finish is all apple skins, their freshness marred by a lingering oxidative bitterness.
I think I had my palate set for Crémant? I had a Crémant de Limoux last week and this is nowhere near as fruity or rich in body. That’s when I look more closely at the label and find the words “Blanquette de Limoux.”
What is this wine? I hastily google. The main component of this wine is a grape I don’t know, called Mauzac. Muzak? “MO-zak.”
This grape is native to the Languedoc and is called Blanquette (“little white one”) in Limoux. Its namesake sparkling wine, Blanquette de Limoux, must be at least 90% Mauzac with small percentages of Clairette, Chenin Blanc, and Chardonnay also permitted.
Saint-Hilaire Blanquette de Limoux is aged on its lees for 12 months, exceeding the legal requirement of 9 months. However, yeasty and bread notes are not prominent in this wine at all. They’re there–but you have to dive in and search the glass for them. I’ve been learning that many white grapes don’t absorb autolytic flavors as well as Chardonnay so maybe Mauzac is one of those. Sipping this wine is like eating a bowl of baked apples for breakfast while someone’s making toast in another room. A bit of a tease.
Even if Mauzac’s achievements were eventually eclipsed by the grapes of Champagne, it’s exciting to discover a regional grape made in a historic style. This wine’s producer, the Sieur d’Arques cooperative, are specialists in Limoux AOC wines. Aside from the storied Blanquette sparklers, their portfolio of still wines includes reds from Syrah, Grenache, and Merlot and whites from Chenin Blanc and Chardonnay.
They also produce Red Bicyclette, a line of inexpensive varietally labeled wines for E&J Gallo. Criminal notoriety came for Sieur d’Arques in 2010, when some higher-ups were convicted of passing off other grapes as Pinot Noir to command a higher price in the U.S. market. (This occurred during the “Sideways” decade, when millions of Americans only wanted to drink Pinot Noir without actually knowing what Pinot Noir tastes like.)
No such whiff of scandal surrounds the Saint-Hilaire Blanquette de Limoux. Among budget-conscious winos, it’s generally regarded as a respectable sparkling wine and an excellent value. I’ve seen it for $13-$14 at Costco–which is madness for estate-bottled Champagne-method wine from France.
However, price can vary a lot. I have seen some wine shops sell it for around $25 or more–probably because that looks like a sweet deal next to the other French bottle with the orange label.
Maybe I’m rating my tasting skills too highly, but I don’t think I would mistake this wine for a high-quality Champagne. It just doesn’t have the brightness, richness, or complexity. I would recommend this wine if you can find it at the right price. It’s cheerful and pleasant–a perfect wine for brunch, sparkling wine cocktails, and celebrations.
Bottle: Saint-Hilaire Blanquette de Limoux Brut (2021)
Variety: Mauzac (90%), Chenin Blanc (5%), Chardonnay (5%)
ABV: 12.5%
Average retail: $20.99
My rating: 7.6 (out of 10)
Review disclosure: I was not compensated or provided any free products for this review. Opinions expressed on The Wine Fairy blog are entirely my own.
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