With Christmas a few days away and New 12 months’s Eve properly on the horizon, it’s time for vital selections: which wines will you select to convey pleasure to the festivities and produce your meals pairings to life. It’s price trying past the standard suspects lining the grocery store cabinets. The festive interval is an ideal time to find new areas and wines, and discover the tales of the locations and other people behind them.
The Languedoc, with its fascinating mosaic of terroirs, gives range and complicated simplicity throughout its many appellations and types. From conventional methodology glowing wines to luscious candy and fortified pours, it is a area whose wines are inextricably linked to the a number of cultures that crossed the Mediterranean because the starting of occasions, making a melting pot of oenological and gastronomic traditions. Coastal and mountain terroirs have lengthy been dwelling to all kinds of grape varieties, in flip shaping the character of varied appellations whose historic monitor file is matched by a relentless capability to innovate and enhance.
Right now, Languedoc combines the classicism of well-established names – assume Crémant de Limoux or Corbières – with the modern flare of lesser-known appellations, equivalent to Fitou or Terrases de Larzac, more and more recognised for his or her expressiveness and consistency.
The native, ancestral winemaking traditions imply that the work of at this time’s winemakers rests upon a wealth of information and a deep reference to the native terroirs. Behind every bottle of a Languedoc AOP wine are tales that may convey which means and character to your Christmas celebrations. However high quality and identification aren’t the one calling playing cards of the Languedoc AOPs: additionally they supply uniquely good worth, proving that there’s no want to interrupt the financial institution to have finely crafted, expressive wines at your desk.
AOP Limoux
If in search of the proper glowing wine to open festivities, Crémant and Blanquette de Limoux supply an ideal different to pricier, conventional methodology counterparts. Their trademark class and salinity makes them not solely supreme celebration bubbles however good meals companions as properly.
As an apéritif, you may also need to take into account a crisp, mineral Picpoul de Pinet, itself a bit of historical past produced from the ancestral Piquepoul grape – wines that carry the breezes and smells of the Mediterranean. Once more these additionally make nice meals wines, with a particular affinity with the flavours of the ocean – grilled fish, seafood platters, sushi, sashimi.
For these for whom any celebration requires a bottle of rosé, the younger Cabardès appellation gives fleshy, gastronomic Syrah and Grenache-based pink wines, that mix freshness with moreish enchantment.
The Languedoc can also be a spot of highly effective, advanced reds that are more and more turning heads amongst sommeliers and wine consumers. They mix construction, ageing potential and a savoury, quintessential Mediterranean flare (assume aromas of dried herbs and garrigue), alongside an opulent drinkability and fruit complexity. Expressions from Fitou, Saint-Chinian, Terrasses de Larzac, Corbières or Faugères, are simply among the wines assured to elevate the flavours of your Christmas Turkey or loaf.
AOP Corbières
And to complete in model, the various fortified iterations of Muscat Blanc a Petit Grains and Muscat of Alexandria, with their aromatic lusciousness and underlying freshness will underline the zesty spiciness of a very good Christmas cake.
Discover Languedoc AOP wines this Christmas – wines that encapsulate the season’s values of simplicity, authenticity and unpretentiousness. A singular mixture of historic legacy and down-to-earth generosity.
Six Languedoc AOP wines to do this festive season:
Antech, Cuvée Saint-Laurent, Crémant de Limoux 2019
From one of many appellation’s flagship producers comes this expressive classic Crémant de Limoux. The Chardonnay-dominant mix was aged for twenty-four months on the lees, lending the wine a creamy, nutty enchantment. A implausible food-friendly glowing that punches properly above the burden of its price ticket.
£12.95 from The Wine Society
Les Vignobles de Foncalieu, Haut Bridau, Picpoul de Pinet, 2021
Foncalieu has lengthy been one of many Languedoc’s main cooperatives, pushed by a robust dedication to high quality and sustainability. Their big selection of AOC and IGP wines present an ideal overview of the collective efforts of Languedoc growers and producers to ship persistently good wines at the very best worth. This Picpoul de Pinet being an ideal instance, with its mild minerality and saline freshness. One of the best pairing for the festive smoked salmon and creamy cheeses.
£9.99 from Majestic
Château de Pennautier, Rosé, Cabardès, 2020/21
An explosion of crunchy crimson fruit on this Merlot-based rosé to which nuances of melon and lychee add an unique twist. Château de Pennautier sits simply six kilometres away from the Thirteenth-century fortress city of Carcassonne, and the 1620 property is the beating coronary heart of Nicolas de Lorgeril’s undertaking.
£11.99 from Majestic
Domaine Jones, Fitou, 2020
The brainchild of England-born Katie Jones, Domaine Jones gained, in however just a few years, a cult following for the expressiveness and purity of its vary. ThisFitou blends Carignan, Grenache and Syrah from previous, low-yielding vines (the one plot owned by Jones herself), in an ideal steadiness of fruit depth, savoury complexity and mineral freshness., Merely scrumptious.
£13.50 from The Wine Society
Domaine de La Réserve d’O, La Réserve d’O Rouge, Terrasses de Larzac 2018
Lately Terrasses de Larzac has emerged as a number one crimson wine appellation, favoured by sommeliers and wine consumers for the steadiness, complexity and gastronomic enchantment of its wines. As proven on this biodynamic (Demeter licensed) mix of Syrah, Grenache and Cinsault, filled with vitality, recent minerality and with unbelievable size.
£25.95 from Lea & Sandeman
Domaine Les Tailhades, Petit Grain, Muscat de Saint-Jean de Minervois, 2020
Usually neglected in favour of the better-known Muscat the Rivesaltes, Muscat de Saint-Jean de Minervois is produced from Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains in lieu of its Alexandria counterpart. But it surely has the identical, if no more, fragrant nuances and a refreshing elevate that may present the very best ending to any meal. And, as this instance from Domaine Les Tailhades reveals, you possibly can’t probably get something higher at this value level.
£7.95 from Hennings Wine
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