Now this is a seriously delicious alternative to Champagne. Your wallet agrees.
Sieur d’Arques Maison de Thury Cremant de Limoux
- Cremant sparkling wine from Limoux in France, home of the world's first ever sparkling wine (150 years before Champagne!)
- The rules for Cremant production are only slightly less as strict as those in Champagne
- Methode Traditionelle (made the same way as Champagne), aged 12 months on lees to add richness and creaminess
- 5 Stars, 93/100 (Sam Kim)
- This is cracking value for money French sparkling and an outstanding alternative to Champagne
Sam Kim – 93 Points
Champagne might be France’s most famous sparkling wine but it ain’t the oldest – or the most affordable! They reckon that title goes to the monks of the Saint Hilaire monastery in Limoux in the Languedoc region of southern France, who discovered the secret of creating fizz some 150 years before Dom Perignon (another monk, now quite famous, you might’ve heard of him?).
Limoux is where this little beauty comes from and made by the crew at Sieur d’Arques. Made in the traditional method (aka methode traditionelle, the same way as Champagne) and aged for 12 months on lees, a technique used to add richness and creaminess.
This is 57% Chardonnay, 27% Chenin Blanc, 7% Pinot Noir and 9% Mauzac. Mau-what?! Pronounced ‘mow-zack‘ this is Limoux’s most famous grape – and some reckon could be the grape used in that very first sparkling wine!
This absolutely smokes most entry level French Champagne brands and for the price, pound for pound, it takes some beating.
- 12.5%
- 750ml
- Cork
