Crémant de Limoux: France’s First Sparkling Wine Region | EUROtoday

Why you need to swap the Champagne for Crémant, France’s first glowing wines, which have been made lengthy earlier than the nation’s most well-known fizz took middle stage.

In the 1500s, lengthy earlier than the Champagne area turned well-known for its bubbles, Benedictine monks from Limoux’s Abbey of Saint-Hilaire created the primary glowing wine, Blanquette of Limouxafter discovering that bottling the wine earlier than fermentation produced bubbles.

Later, Limoux’s standing as a legendary producer of glowing wine was boosted in 1990, when AOC certification was given to Crémant de Limoux – a glowing wine made utilizing the standard methodology additionally used to make Champagne, however made in Limoux, not Champagne. Tamara Hinson heads to Limoux to satisfy the producers of the area’s incredible fizz.

Last yr, I spent a weekend visiting numerous homes in Champagne. At Champagne Pommery, I obtained misplaced within the 18-kilometer community of tunnels after pausing to admire a subterranean artwork set up, and at Veuve Clicquot’s boutique, I watched fizz-loving fiends splash out on sunshine yellow deckchairs and insulated bottle holders emblazoned with Veuve Clicquot’s emblem.

Fast ahead to January 2026, and I’m visiting Limoux’s family-run Pasquetto Estate, which produces a few of Limoux’s most interesting crémants and wines on 24 hectares of land. But I’m not clinging to the tail finish of a gaggle tour, ready for my allocatedthimble of wine.

I’m within the kitchen of a ravishing home owned by Jean-Marie and Maria Angeles Pasquetto, who based the domaine in 1992 and who joined their sons, Clement and Adrien, for a fabulously casual wine tasting. Clément is an oenologist who has honed his expertise at Bordeaux’s Institute of Vine and Wine Sciences, in addition to throughout stints at vineyards in Champagne and Chile. Adrien has a equally spectacular wine-themed CV.

Further proof of the household’s ardour for wine comes when I’m launched to the household’s cat, named Blanquette – a nod to the world’s first glowing wine, produced in Limoux.

“Crémant’s AOC designation was one of the first awarded in France,” says Adrien throughout a stroll across the winery. He explains that the local weather is ideal for producing crémant.

“It’s fresher here, and our proximity to the Pyrenees is important.” It’s one of many causes Limoux has cooler temperatures than a lot of the Languedoc area. “We’ve also got dense, clay-rich soil which retains humidity – perfect for sparkling wine.”

Like many Limoux crémant producers, Domaine Pasquetto shuns over-reliance on chemical intervention. Adrien factors to neat strains of leafy fava bean crops separating the rows of vines. “They capture nitrogen, return it to the soil and keep it there – a natural fertilizer!”

Limoux’s domaine are principally small, family-run, unbiased producers, however Sieur d’Arques, the place guests can join excursions and take a look at a small museum filled with winemakers’ instruments, is the exception, producing its personal (huge) vary of wines whereas serving as a cooperative for smaller producers.

It additionally produces Morrisons’ The Best Crémants De Limoux, which James Martin propelled to stardom by raving about it on his Saturday Morning cookery present.

It’s not simply crémants Limoux is thought for. Many winemakers use mauzac grapes, which originated right here and flourish in south-west France’s limestone soil, producing splendidly contemporary and fruity wines.

I discovered extra about these notes on the House of Limoux Wines, created to supply an perception into the area’s historical past of winemaking, in addition to the features which set its wine aside.

I really like an excellent crémant, however usually confused notes of blackcurrant and blueberry (particularly after a glass or two), which is why my private spotlight is the museum’s scent zone, a row of steel tubes topped with cork lids, stuffed with elements blended to create the scent of varied wines.

The tube marked La Blanquette de Limoux affords a scrumptious blast of tropical flowers and apples, and I study that the Traditional Method method is what offers this sparkler its toasted notes. Tube-side tasting notes reveal that it goes particularly properly with a tart tatin.

Next to a close-by picture displaying an historic mosaic discovered close by and depicting males plucking grapes from a vine, a caption explains that proof suggests wine was first made right here within the second century BC. And behind a glass body, I spot a light manuscript – a letter written in 1544, requesting 4 pints of Limoux’s blanquette glowing wine for the Lord of Arques.

It’s onerous to not be impressed by the fervour for environmentally pleasant approaches in Limoux. Many vineyards are dotted with historic stone huts, intentionally deserted in order that pipistrelle bats and lizards can use them as habitats. The fauna is spectacularly various; there are bursts of untamed orchids and swathes of lavender, and hedgerows and forests are revered as ramparts to guard vines from pests.

Many of Limoux’s domains are accredited by Terra Vitis, which promotes sustainable viticulture. One instance is Château Martinolles, a site with a winery stuffed with biodiversity-enhancing olive groves and oak bushes.

At Limoux’s Domaine du Grès Vaillant, I met homeowners Aigline and Laurent, who took the ecological method one step additional. The property was based by Benedictine monks, and wine has been produced right here for a whole lot of years.

Current residents embrace a flock of sheep, which trim their allotted patches of greenery with out disturbing the earth, and three horses, which pull equipment and switch the soil whereas sustaining the well being of the soil (and the bugs) by avoiding over-compaction.

Currently, the winery produces round 35,000 bottles in an excellent yr. Its historical past is clearly revered, and in one of many outbuildings Aigline exhibits me what I assume is a disused room.

She tells me that the concrete chamber is definitely a former wine tank, utilized by a earlier winemaker. Tidemarks on the partitions are a reminder that at one level, it contained a swimming pool-sized quantity of wine.

Later, in a tasting room filled with antiques, I style Aigline and Laurent’s Blanquette de Limoux. Made with Mauzac grapes, it is deliciously dry and crisp. Next up are sips of Domaine du Grès Vaillant’s Sauvignon and a wonderful orange wine additionally made with Mausaz grapes. All are made with hand-harvested grapes from vines maintained with the assistance of horses, fermented in tanks utilizing yeasts made with a starter tradition.

Like different Limoux winemakers I converse to, Aigline says that there is rising curiosity in Limoux’s wines from additional afield. Many hope to begin scaling as much as meet demand. “There’s more and more interest in our wines from the Chinese market,” says Aigline.

“But the problem is that you’ll go to a trade show, chat to a Chinese buyer who says he loves your wine and would like to place an order, and he’ll request 150,000 bottles, which isn’t feasible.” It’s a reminder that high quality, not amount, is the principle driver right here, and I think extra wine lovers will quickly begin swapping Champagne for Limoux for his or her grape escapes.

But if Maison des Vins de Limoux does begin promoting deckchairs emblazoned with the names of Limoux winemakers reminiscent of Domaine Pasquetto, I’ll be severely tempted. As lengthy as there’s nonetheless room in my suitcase for some crémant, after all.

Lead picture credit score: Cremant in Carcassonne © Tamara Hinson