From: Languedoc-Roussillon, France
Varietals: Chardonnay and Pinot Noir with around 10% Chenin Blanc
Tasting Notes: A precise balance between roundness, light fruitiness, and freshness. Very charming and ripe Chardonnay sings alongside the structure brought by the Pinot Noir and the touch of Chenin Blanc for some extra mid-palate richness. The wine has a golden bright color with ruby hints and a fine, consistent bubble. Fresh on the nose with notes of rose, elderberry, apple, pear, quince, nectarine, hazelnut, and light, smoky-sweet spices. The mouth is generous and well structured, striking a balance of roundness, fruitiness, and freshness, persisting to a long finish marked by lemon, exotic fruit, toast, and a final note of salinity.
Pairing: Enjoy this wine as an aperitif or at the start of a meal consisting of shellfish, seafood, sushi, fish, grilled sole, lemon chicken, you comté (hard cheese), or even a carpaccio of pineapple with cinnamon. Olives are widely grown in the Aude department where this wine comes from, and it would taste incredible with an olive tapenade on crispy baguette slices. For a full meal pairing option, we’d also love to sip on the JL Denois Tradition Extra Brut alongside Jamie Oliver’s recipe for Salmon Nicoise. Yum!
About. The grapes in this cuvée were farmed organically and hand-harvested into small 15 kg crates to avoid premature crushing and oxidation. They were pressed whole cluster and only the free run juice (just 50 liters for every 100 kg of grapes) was used in the Tradition bottling. The wine fermented in vats before being blended with reserve wines and racked to neutral French Oak barriques. The second fermentation, which occurred in the bottle (Champenois method), was kickstarted by Chenin Blanc must held at 0oC rather than sugar, and the wine matured on its lees in bottle for at least three years before riddling and disgorgement with 2g/L of dosage.
