2020 Domaine de Baronarques, Blanc, Limoux, Languedoc

This has very pretty energy and focus, as well as sliced melon, pears, stone, and fresh ginger. Dried flowers. Citrus, too. Medium-bodied with a solid density of fruit with white peaches and honey. Tangy and flavorful.

Drink or hold

Full bottle, a naughty 1,539 g. A Baron Philippe de Rothschild barrel-fermented Chardonnay from the hills of the southwestern Languedoc. Offered on the Place de Bordeaux in September 2022. One of the more surprising choices – the Rothschild connection apart.

A fairly rich nose suggests some spicy oak, but on the palate, the acidity of the elevated vineyards shines through. This is still really quite youthful and has clearly been made with great care. I think it will come into its own halfway through 2023 with any luck.

Drink 2023 - 2026

Mostly Chardonnay, the 2020 Limoux Blanc is a terrific white with a real class in its aromatics and texture. Light gold-hued, with a great nose of poached pears, honeyed citrus, crushed stone, toasted hazelnuts, and white flowers, it hits the palate with a medium-bodied richness that carries terrific mid-palate depth, bright, racy, yet brilliantly integrated acidity, and a crisp, clean, lengthy finish that brings an undeniable sense of salinity. A seriously good white, it deserves 2-3 years of bottle age it needs a decant if drinking any time soon) and will evolve for over a decade. Bravo.

Drink 2025 - 2036