Saint-Hilaire Blanquette de Limoux

[mrdutton]

Bringing in the New Year. Years ago I gave up on Dom, too expensive and just not that exciting for me.

I do like the Perrier-Jouet, but it is getting pretty pricey these days also.

There are others that I like, such as Iron Horse Blanc de Blanc, J, Schramsberg, White Star and such.

But then I found this really nice French bubbly, made by monks supposedly long before Dom started making Champagne, at a price that I just could not refuse.

Saint-Hilaire Blanquette de Limoux Blanc de Blanc for $16.00 a bottle at my local wine shop.

No tasting notes tonight - but let me tell you I really enjoyed this bubbly. Long lasting, tiny little bubbles starting at the bottom of the flute, that much I can tell you for sure.

Hope everyone suffered an enjoyable passage from 2007 to 2008!!

[wdonovan]

At first we liked this wine and thought it was great for the price. But we started to get tired of its astringency, making it drink almost like a cheap Cava. We've now switched our house bubbly to Francois Montand NV brut, a Methode Traditionale from Jura. This one actually lives up to the claims made about the St Hillaire, that it could go head to head with a $30 Champagne. It costs about 2 or 4 bucks less than the St. Hillaire.
Interesting downsizing from Dom to Blanquet de Limoux. Couldn't find anything in between?


[This message has been edited by wdonovan (edited 01-09-2008).]

[VouvrayHead]

I'm with you... The Saint-Hillaire was astringent and sawdust tasting to me...
I like most Cava better!
For me, the $15ish range best buys are the Gruet BdN and Lucien Albrecht's BdB and Rose

[mrdutton]

In between - I thought I mentioned a couple, like Iron Horse, J, and Schramsburg.

Yeah I know they aren't French, but Cali, but still good bubbly.

I didn't find the St. Hillaire to be astringent at all. Far from "puckery" as far as my pallet was concerned. I still have a couple more of the Blanc de Blanc in my fridge. I'll pop one open in a few days and see if I can come up with some tasting notes.

Right now my pallet is being taken care of by a Tobin James SB (yeah a silly-white) but it went quite well with that fish I had tonight.