Controlled Designation of Origin & Traditional Method
La Blanquette was invented by the monks of the Abbey of Saint-Hilaire, near Limoux where a monk noticed by chance that the wine he had corked and tied up was forming bubbles.
The departmental archives of the Aude in Carcassonne, keep a precious text from 1544 which mentions "four pinctes of blanquette", and historians have found other writings, including in the UK which mention the reputation of the bubbles of Limoux.
From 1929, the Limoux cru production area was delimited (the first in France) and in 1938 it gave birth to the first Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC) in Languedoc, it is also one of the very first AOC in France. This Blanquette de Limoux is made using the traditional method with 90% Mauzac, the traditional grape variety from the Limouxin region. In 1990, the AOC Crémant de Limoux was created and following the recent modification of the decree, it is now produced mainly with Chardonnay and Chenin. Mauzac and Pinot noir coming as a complement.
Traditional method
This complex and rigorous method is used for the production of all our wines. After picking, exclusively manual and only in small crates, the grapes are transported quickly to the cellars to be pressed to avoid any oxidation. We use a pneumatic press to obtain clear and pure juices. From these base wines, a first fermentation in stainless steel vats with an integrated cooling system makes it possible to control this first stage of production. After assembly, the wine is then bottled after adding yeasts. Then begins the second fermentation, also called "prize de mousse", this is how the bubble is born! After having patiently left our wines to rest in contact with the lees between 9 and 21 months, we expel the deposit brought to the neck by riddling and add the expedition liqueur made from "still" wine, the wine is ready to be corked. of its definitive cork, labeled and… tasted.
For each of these stages we make it a point of honor that they are all carried out within the Domaine J. Laurens itself; nothing is subcontracted in order to rigorously control all stages of the development.