Please wait

Contact

37-39 rue Boissière
75016 Paris
France

Phone : 01 41 40 99 80

GaultMillau © 2025 All rights reserved

Languedoc white wines: 5 Corbières appellation wines to discover

Languedoc white wines: 5 Corbières appellation wines to discover

Laetitia Gautheron | 7/16/24, 4:14 PM
Disable your adblocker

Corbières, located in the Aude department, is the largest appellation d'origine contrôlée in Languedoc, with almost 9,000 hectares of vines. Red wines predominate, but many winemakers are also producing increasingly high-quality white wines.

Corbières white wines account for barely 5% of the production of this large PDO, created in 1985, yet almost all winemakers offer them, and often several cuvées.The range of grape varieties is varied: white grenache, roussanne, marsanne, macabeu, the newcomer viognier and, above all, the most popular lately, rolle (also known as vermentino in Corsica). The diversity of terroirs and grape varieties, combined with the personal touch of each winemaker, means that white wines can range from light and fresh to round and full-bodied.

The importance of the winemaker

Winegrowers are an integral part of the notion of terroir: "With global warming and, above all, drought, it's the work in the vineyard and winemaking techniques that are taking over in the quest for freshness," explains Christophe Gualco, president of the Corbières PDO communications committee. "In 2023, with a very hot end to August, we can still find white wines with a lot of freshness. We had to be precise about the harvest date. The estates harvested earlier, at night, at low temperatures. Anticipation was the key to this vintage".

Christophe Gualco is also winemaker at Château Etang de Colombes, and is part of the fourth generation to exercise this profession in the family. He notes that around him, the new generations from the family estates, but also the neo-winegrowers or the new directors of the cooperative wineries, are "younger, more dynamic, more open-minded, with more modern techniques ". Now " responsible for their own marketing, they are more in tune with the market".


DR

5 Corbières appellation wines to discover

After Boutenac, the Corbières PDO has submitted 5 Dénominations Géographiques Contrôlées (DGC) projects to the INAO: Terrasses de Lézignan, Montagne d'Alaric, Terroir de Lagrasse, Corbières-Durban and Port Mahon. The latter DGC would also like to extend its range to white wines, thanks to its maritime location, which gives them a truly saline profile. Faced with growing consumption of white wines, the appellation intends to meet demand. Its credo? Lively and dynamic. Here are a few examples to taste.

Corbières Le blanc, Domaine de Sainte-Johannès, 2023

Tasting notes: Located on the Lézignan terroir, the estate is run by ESAT Les 3 Terroirs. This is a fresh wine. Full of fruit, with lovely peach and pear aromas and a touch of vanilla that also gives it fullness. On the palate, the wine is round and well-balanced, with a chalky finish that lends it elegance. Superb value for money. Ideal with baked fish.

Corbières Le Blanc de l'œuf, Mas des Caprices, 2023

Tasting notes: Children of Alsatian winemakers, Mireille and Pierre Mann of Mas des Caprices produce a beautiful white wine in the style of the Corbières Maritimes. Full of greed and pleasant substance, it is produced biodynamically. Flattering thanks to its fruity, iodized aromas, it's a lively wine that's perfect for any occasion: aperitif, barbecued sardines, goat's cheese...

Corbières Fraîcheur, Terroirs du Vertige, 2023

Tasting notes: This cooperative winery, comprising 170 winegrowers, owes its name to its steep hillsides. Nearly 900 hectares of vines cling to the Hautes Corbières terroir, west of Narbonne. The name of this cuvée perfectly expresses this wine. The aromas are airy, with floral, aniseed and lemon notes. On the palate, it's light, recalling lemony notes combined with a touch of pineapple. The perfect aperitif wine.

Corbières Les Jumelles, Château de Luc, 2022

Tasting notes: Produced by the Fabre family, the organically grown grapes are harvested at night to preserve their freshness. The wine is then aged in barrel to add fullness and complexity. The nose reveals a refined bouquet of citrus (orange), spices (curry, ginger) and roasting. The palate is powerful, with woody but also floral aromas. Serve with firm-fleshed barbecued fish.

Corbières La Font Blanche, Château de Caraguilhes, 2022

Tasting notes: The Boutenac terroir is famous for its red wines, but here Château de Caraguilhès presents a gastronomic white wine. Its blend of roussanne, grenache blanc and rolle, part of which is vinified in barrels, gives it great complexity with its woody, mineral and yellow fruit notes. On the palate, it's both powerful and charming, retaining its delicacy with floral and vegetal touches (fennel). A perfect accompaniment to white meats.

The range of Corbières white wines is now increasingly qualitative and broad, from aperitif wines to gourmet wines. You're bound to find an occasion to sample a bottle.

Disable your adblocker

These news might interest you

Armand Arnal & Thierry Dufresne: Cross-pollination
Craftsmen & Know-How
Armand Arnal & Thierry Dufresne: Cross-pollination
The former is the chef at La Chassagnette, in Arles, the latter a former luxury goods executive turned beekeeper-harvester, founder of the La Manufacture du Miel brand in 2010 and of the Observatoire français d'apidologie in 2014. Armand Arnal and Thierry Dufresne talk about their love of bees and the importance of protecting these garden sentinels. In the chef's hyper-pollinating kitchen garden, a flight from the Arles flamingo, we witnessed these two biodiversity enthusiasts foraging.
Aube, a den of gastronomes
News & Events
Aube, a den of gastronomes
If you think of Champagne, do you think of the bubbles from the great houses of Reims or Épernay? And yet, further south, an intimate, winegrowing and gastronomic Champagne is available to gourmets with a fine nose.
Le Saint-Honoré
Craftsmen & Know-How
Le Saint-Honoré
If there's a French pastry heritage, it's the saint-honoré, or "saint-ho" to its friends! Crunchy and creamy at the same time, it's a gourmet favorite in many hearts. Gault&Millau begins a series of sweet portraits with one that curiously doesn't honor the patron saint of pastry chefs, but rather that of bakers.
Rhubarb emerges from the shadows
Craftsmen & Know-How
Rhubarb emerges from the shadows
The queen of rustic pies and crumbles, rhubarb is best enjoyed as a fruit, whereas it is a vegetable. This original plant leaves behind its old-fashioned trappings to spice up the most creative dishes and awaken both sweet and savory palates. One of the first spring vegetables, but the most recent to hit our plates, it's making a name for itself time and time again.
The grater shows its teeth
Craftsmen & Know-How
The grater shows its teeth
Rubbing, reducing, seasoning, zesting, spicing... It does it all! But where does this utensil come from, that Gruyère cheese couldn't do without? Flat or bell-shaped, giant or miniature, this spiky accessory is capable of reducing to calibrated crumbs whatever you put in front of it.
Follow the chenin
News & Events
Follow the chenin
The king of the Loire grape varieties, also widespread in South Africa, "ch'nin", as the people of the Loire pronounce it, has the extraordinary ability to produce dry white wines as well as semi-dry, sweet, syrupy and even sparkling wines, commonly known as fines bulles. Complex and demanding, it is nonetheless endearing.
Become Partners