GRANDE CUVÉE 1531 DE AIMERY CRÉMANT DE LIMOUX

Once there was a sparkling wine called Blanquette de Limoux made from a grape called Mauzac. It was first produced in 1531—long before Champagne—and it tasted interestingly of cider apple. It’s still made today but, in the 1990s, wineries around Limoux, in southwestern France, introduced another bubbly with a more fashionable, international style, adding local Chardonnay and Chenin Blanc to the Mauzac. They called it Crémant de Limoux and this is a fine example full of peach, Granny Smith apple and yeasty brioche.