Languedoc

Château Rives-Blanques

Limoux

This is Languedoc wine par excellence and we could fill pages extolling the results of Jan and Caryl Panman’s adventure into vineyard ownership and winemaking.The charming couple lived and worked on four continents before Limoux “stopped them in their tracks” and they set about turning passion into profession. But when buying and investing in new vines and winery the canny Panmans retained the services of third generation winemaker Eric Vialade, who has won many more medals in his time than he can count.

He has pioneered the environmentally-friendly vineyard practices that have subsequently provided for both increasing wildlife and fantastic wines. Eric’s work in the vineyards, where everything is hand-harvested, is overlooked by wild boar, owls, hawks and wild deer. It’s quieter in the winery where the Panmans have built a strong team around Eric which includes Georges Pauli who is technical director at Château Gruaud Larose

Robert Parker describes Blanquette de Limoux as "one of the least-known best-made sparkling wines in France". It comes from a small appéllation high in the foothills of the Pyrénées in the South of France, where Benedictine monks were enjoying bubbles in their wine over a century before their brother Dom Pérignon arrived in Champagne. Whether by divine inspiration or happy accident, this 2006 vintage shows that the world's oldest sparkler has lost none of its sparkle. It is still made to this very day from hand-picked Mauzac grapes, in the shade of the monastery where it was first invented.

Visit: www.rives-blanques.com