Wijnstokken |
De Wijnstokken9 ha Chardonnay (taille Guyot)2.4 ha Chenin Blanc (taille Cordon de Royat)7 ha Mauzac (taille Gobelet)2 ha Sauvignon Blanc geplant in 2006Alle druiven voor onze AOC wijnen worden met de hand geplukt (opbrengst beperkt tot 35 - 45 hl/ha). De meeste wijnstokken werden vernieuwd tussen 1972-1987. Er is één meter tussen iedere wijnstok en 2.25 meter tussen iedere rij (4,444 wijnstokken per ha). Productie : ongeveer 100,000 flessen per jaar. De Nederlandse vertaling van deze pagina is nog in voorbereiding. Chardonnay
The most noble and most celebrated of all white wine varieties, adds a complex bouquet. It is a highly praised, most versatile grape, high in extract and with good acid levels. Differing local soil conditions and the individual wine maker's talent combine to produce a dazzlingly diverse spectrum of chardonnay wines with varying characteristics the world over. The top chardonnay fields at Château Rives-Blanques are arguably amongst the best in the Limoux area, thanks to the altitude and our unique terroir, and are also the oldest in the Languedoc. As INAO President René Renou said, "the Limoux terroir gives chardonnay a unique, special character you can find no where else."
We make two award-winning chardonnays: one vinified in stainless steel tanks, and the other in oak barrels. Chenin Blanc
Brings fruit and vigour to our wines. In a region not known for the quality of its chenin blanc, Château Rives-Blanques is uniquely and outstandingly placed for the extremely successful cultivation of this grape. Chenin Blanc can produce both dry and sweet wines with plenty of acidity, which enables them to balance this sweetness and age for years. The extraordinary conditions of last year's harvest coupled with tender loving care of the vines, combined to give us two really exciting wines: a dry AOC Limoux (the only chenin with an appellation label from the South of France), and a sweet late harvest dessert wine.
Mauzac
Sauvignon Blanc
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Château Rives-Blanques |
The traditional indigenous grape, grown only in Limoux and Gaillac, adds a fragrance of apple to the wine... "a sharp appley
freshness and bite that follows up the faint grassy cidery aroma". Its firm acidity and fairly neutral taste makes it an excellent base for sparkling wines,
but difficult to vinify as an interesting still wine for exactly the same reasons. A fine white down on the underside of its leaves gives it the name used
locally: blanquette. Blanquette is also the name of Limoux's most famous sparkling wine, which is made from this grape. Last year's
harvest has enabled us also to produce a wonderfully balanced still wine from uncloned vines of this grape variety, under the AOC Limoux label - the only 100% barrel-vinified mauzac in the world, as far as we know. 
Sauvignon Blanc is widely cultivated in France, California and more recently in New Zealand, which has become synonymous with this grape variety. Sauvignon blanc wines have noticeable acidity and grassy, herbaceous aromas and flavours. In France, the best come from the Loire valley (Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé) where they express themselves in crisp and tart wines with flinty characteristics; and in the fine elegant white wines from Bordeaux (Graves) where they are blended with Sémillon, and aged in oak barrels . Two hectares of Sauvignon Blanc were planted at Chateau Rives-Blanques in 2006, which because of the rules of the national AOC system, can be made only into Vin de Pays wines. The vines require great care during their infancy, and the first of their wines will not be on the market until 2009.