Region & History

Blanquette de Limoux is the sparkling wine from the upper Aude Valley, south of Carcassonne, and its winemakers make a bold claim. They point to a 1531 document from the Abbey of Saint-Hilaire said to record a foaming wine here, long before Champagne. This is the region's own account; it has not been proven as fact.

The name Blanquette means roughly 'the little white one.' A common explanation traces it to the pale, downy undersides of the leaves of the Mauzac grape, which sets the tone in Limoux. It is the source of the wine that gives the place its reputation, and because both share the same name, winemakers speak of Blanquette as both a grape variety and a drink.

Today there are three protected sparkling wines. Blanquette de Limoux undergoes a second fermentation in the bottle and consists mainly of Mauzac. Blanquette de Limoux méthode ancestrale is the simpler, lighter version with only one fermentation. Crémant de Limoux, its own appellation since 1990, contains more Chardonnay and Chenin blanc and follows EU Crémant rules: hand harvest, traditional bottle fermentation, at least nine months on the lees.

The area is shaped by a cooperative and family estates. The winery Sieur d'Arques was founded in 1946 by growers. According to its own figures, it has around 270 members farming about 1,200 hectares within the appellation. The house of Antech, according to the estate, is run in its sixth generation by Françoise Antech-Gazeau. There are also smaller domaines that bottle their own wines.

Protection of origin can be read on the label. If it says Blanquette de Limoux or Crémant de Limoux, the wine must come from the delimited area in the upper Aude Valley and be made according to the rules of its appellation. The term 'Champagne method' is prohibited outside Champagne; the permitted term is méthode traditionnelle.