NV Sieur d'Arques Toques et Clochers Cremant de Limoux Languedoc-Roussillon 750 ml

Champagne-Style from the Birthplace of Bubbly

Decades before Dom Pierre Pérignon’s call to “Come quickly! I’m tasting the stars!” at the Abbey of Hautvillers in Champagne, he may have learned how to make sparkling wine at Limoux in the Languedoc, where the first record of sparkling wine dates to the mid-16th century. That legacy lives on in each bottle of this Sieur d’Arques “Toques et Clochers” Crémant de Limoux. Culled from a diverse range of hillside plots, where vines are graced by le vent Cers (the bone-dry wind from the east) and balmy Mediterranean breezes yield small crops of whole clusters that are hand-picked in the old way. For less than half the price of Champagne, the Sieur d’Arques “Toques et Clochers” is a beautifully complex Crémant, easily confused for top-shelf bubbly. No wonder Wine Enthusiast labels this Crémant de Limoux a “Best Buy,” a “deliciously mature blend,” that is “big and full,” “with toast, butter and long-lasting fruit flavors.” All that Champagne-like quality, aged on lees for 24 months, at under $20? Time to stock up.

Our hunt for modestly-priced bubbly always brings us to the rocky, limestone- and schist-rich soils of Limoux, where limestone soils lend an elegance and racy acidity to these sparklers. This Toques and Clochers MV is technically a “Blanc des Blancs,” blending mostly Chardonnay with Chenin, and the local specialty, Mauzac, which adds an exotic, cidery spice to the cuvée. After a slow and gentle pressing, only the heart of each wine from each of the four terroirs is selected and separately vinified before blending together — you’ll never regret having a few bottles of this around in your cellar for parties, date nights, or Tuesday evening’s take-out pizza. It’s a Champagne substitute priced for a weeknight.