Two British wine experts, David Kermode aka Vinosaurus, and that “man mountain of enthusiasm”, television food and wine personality, Joe Wadsack pooled their considerable knowledge and talent to define the region and select the ten most interesting wines at an Occitanie trade tasting in London, for the leading British digital trade magazine, The Buyer.
Occitanie, the new region which encompasses Languedoc and Roussillon as well as others to the west of Toulouse, is the biggest wine region in France, and “the only one with all four climate influences: Mediterranean, Maritime, Continental and Mountainous, whilst also contending with the four area winds,: the Mistral, Tramontane, Marine and Autan,” they pointed out.
The Rives-Blanques Blanquette de Limoux is a ‘beguiling Brut Nature”, according to David Kermode, “offering zippy clean fresh citrus and baked apples, with a lovely lingering finish”.
It’s ‘distinctively different’ from Champagne, he said, “and all the more exciting for it”.
He also selected the Rives-Blanques chenin blanc, Dédicace, in his top ten. “This feels influenced by the Loire rather than the Cape,” he said, and it “demands at least another glass”.
