Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1025306
DEPARTMENT HEADER 52 / the tasting panel / september 2018 52 / the tasting panel / september 2018 EXPLORING APPELLATIONS W hile Blanquette de Limoux—an appellated sparkling wine from the Limoux AOP in France's Languedoc region—may be celebrat- ing the 80th anniversary of its official designation in 1938, many historians credit the Limoux AOP as the birthplace of sparkling wine, tracing its creation to the monks of the Abbey of Saint-Hilaire in 1531. Whether one's familiar with the self-proclaimed "OG" of bubbles or not, there's there's no denying the rising quality and ever-present value of the Languedoc's only sparkling appellation. One of the region's smaller AOPs, Limoux is situated between the Pyrenees mountains to the south and the Cévennes mountains to the north on the western edge of the Languedoc. FRESHNESS AND VALUE ABOUND IN WINES FROM LIMOUX, THE LANGUEDOC'S ONLY SPARKLING APPELLATION by Jessie Birschbach / photos by Nick Klein Effervescence EXCLUSIVE A vineyard in the Languedoc's Limoux appellation.