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2017 Languedoc Blanc “Cuvée Sainte Agnès”
Ermitage du Pic Saint LoupI’ve said it multiple times on these pages, but here I go again: this is one of southern France’s truly amazing values in white wine. From Roussanne grown at high altitude in limestone atop the Pic Saint Loup and aged in foudres, this inexpensive little southern French white shows so much class and is so fresh and stimulating you will be blown away. My advice: don’t miss it.
—Dixon Brooke
Wine Type: | white |
Vintage: | 2017 |
Bottle Size: | 750mL |
Blend: | 50% Roussanne, 30% Clairette, 10% Marsanne, 10% Grenache Blanc |
Appellation: | Languedoc |
Country: | France |
Region: | Languedoc-Roussillon |
Producer: | Ermitage du Pic Saint Loup |
Winemaker: | Xavier, Pierre, and Jean-Marc Ravaille |
Vineyard: | 15 – 80 years, 8 ha |
Soil: | Clay, Limestone, Dolomite |
Aging: | Whites are fermented and aged in foudres and demi-muids for 10 months, aged for 12 months |
Alcohol: | 13% |
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About The Producer
Ermitage du Pic Saint Loup
About The Region
Languedoc-Roussillon
Ask wine drinkers around the world, and the word “Languedoc” is sure to elicit mixed reactions. On the one hand, the region is still strongly tied to its past as a producer of cheap, insipid bulk wine in the eyes of many consumers. On the other hand, it is the source of countless great values providing affordable everyday pleasure, with an increasing number of higher-end wines capable of rivaling the best from other parts of France.
While there’s no denying the Languedoc’s checkered history, the last two decades have seen a noticeable shift to fine wine, with an emphasis on terroir. Ambitious growers have sought out vineyard sites with poor, well draining soils in hilly zones, curbed back on irrigation and the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, and looked to balance traditional production methods with technological advancements to craft wines with elegance, balance, and a clear sense of place. Today, the overall quality and variety of wines being made in the Languedoc is as high as ever.
Shaped like a crescent hugging the Mediterranean coast, the region boasts an enormous variety of soil types and microclimates depending on elevation, exposition, and relative distance from the coastline and the cooler foothills farther inland. While the warm Mediterranean climate is conducive to the production of reds, there are world-class whites and rosés to be found as well, along with stunning dessert wines revered by connoisseurs for centuries.
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Kermit once said...
Kermit once said...
I want you to realize once and for all: Even the winemaker does not know what aging is going to do to a new vintage; Robert Parker does not know; I do not know. We all make educated (hopefully) guesses about what the future will bring, but guesses they are. And one of the pleasures of a wine cellar is the opportunity it provides for you to witness the evolution of your various selections. Living wines have ups and downs just as people do, periods of glory and dog days, too. If wine did not remind me of real life, I would not care about it so much.
Inspiring Thirst, page 171