Les Hautes Terres ‘Joséphine’ Crémant de Limioux Brut Nature Blanc NV

Location: France, Languedoc

Winemaker: Geneviève & Gilles Azam

Grapes: 60% Chardonnay, 30% Chenin Blanc, 10% Mauzac (25 years old Chardonnay vines, 45 years old Chenin Blanc, 49 years old Mauzac)

Soil: 300-600 meters high in altitude.
Sandstone-based clay and marine limestone soils rich in Nummulite fossils.

Winemaking: Hand picked. Method Champenoise. Whole bunches are pressed directly and settle on lees one night before being transferred to French oak barrels for fermentation. Aged 9 months in French Oak Barrels, Demi-Muids and Foudres before tirage. Secondary fermentation and 18 months of aging in bottle before disgorgement. No Dosage.

From the Importer Steven Graf Wine: Located in the Aude valley, on the very edge of Languedoc, a remarkably beautiful place filled with ancient stories. Geneviève and Gilles live and work at the very top of a 600m summit overlooking land that was once occupied by the armies of Charlemagne. You can see why. It's covered in jutting limestone rocks creating an infinity of discrete microclimates and sloped vineyards. It was a place known for the most brutal warriors who apocryphally ate sword spears in their salads and shaved with pistol shot. The domaine's crest is a chess piece called the rook or castle in homage to this history. It's a harsh wilderness which requires a courage and temperament that is embodied perfectly by Gilles and Geneviève.

Their home and cellar comes from Gilles's grandfather, atop a rocky cliff called d'amour dur, or tough love. Where the wildnerness surrounding certainly grounds the dur aspect of this place, Gilles and Geneviève are all love. For 20 years they've been slowly building the domain which now includes a bottling and riddling facility 10 minutes away from the house. From here they help out a lot of smaller winemakers, offering equipment and expertise. They know the land well and take a lot of pride in their viticultural map of the place. Each little divot in the pockmarked landscape has its issues, but their wines have turned these idiosyncracies into complexity and character. Like a lot of winemakers, they say they are speaking through limestone and mauzac and chardonnay, etc. In the wines' transparency, these vignerons have a lot to say.