Saturday 11 July 2015

Corbières at Carcassonne

Strictly speaking, Corbière wines don't come from Carcassonne, but we drank some in the cité, so I'm entitled to the headline.

Carcassonne is within a wine-producing area that is responsible for Corbières, Fitou and Minervois among other lesser-known, smaller classifications.   We couldn't come back without at least a small sample of the local produce.

Our first stop was at the offices and warehouse of Sieur d'Arques in the town of Limoux (Where the scented garden is).  They make a lot of sparkling wine and use the brand name Première Bulle to mark the fact that the first fizzy wine ever produced came from Limoux.

The Champagne system uses a double fermentation to produce a strong wine with great effervescence.  The original (pre-Champagne) method (discovered, presumably, in Limoux) uses a single fermentation and results in a mild (6%) and sweet fizz.   Sieur d'Arques make both kinds, and we got some of each.

Our other visit was to a warehouse run under the name Celliers d'Orphée, who seemed to be just opening for the tourist season.  I was driving so I couldn't take full advantage of the tasting (had to spit the wine out, what a waste), but the numerous gold and silver medals plastered all over the price list seemed well-merited.  We didn't buy a lot, but it's enough to be getting on with.  It might last us a few weeks.



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