Over 900 chardonnays from 35 countries met in the heartland of chardonnay-country this month,  the appellation Brouilly at the foot of Mont Brouilly in Burgundy, to be tasted by 300 judges.

The Rives-Blanques Odyssée 2010 was awarded a gold medal, one of the 45 gold medals given to French chardonnays – mostly coming from Champagne and Burgundy.

Interestingly, three gold medalists were Limoux chardonnays, an unsually high percentage for an appellation producing only 500,000 bottles in total, which seems to confirm Jancis Robinson’s comment that « some of the best chardonnay fields outside Burgundy can be found in Limoux ».

Two weeks later, another gold medal went to our Limoux mauzac, cuvée Occitania 2010, this one from the UK Sommelier Wine Awards.  1850 wines were judged by the country’s top sommeliers, and four gold medals were awarded to the Languedoc Roussillon region.

« Perfume and a beautiful structure won the day with this elegant white wine », they said. « A fresh nose of nectarines and fresh citrus mingles with mimosa blossom, nuts and a light butteriness, while the multi-layered palate is long and well balanced. »

We noted that our neighbour also won a gold medal, which means that half of all the medals awarded to the world’s biggest wine region fell on two adjacent vineyards in Limoux.