What Is BULLE De BLANQUETTE?
What is Bulle de Blanquette?
Although widely accepted as being the very first sparkling wine ever created and produced for commercial consumption, the majority of people have never heard of it.
The first recorded text mentioning Bulle de Blanquette dates back from 1531. It was the Benedictine Monks at the Abbey of Saint-Hilaire that first produced this sparkling wine, which soon became popular all over France due to this (at the time) unique characteristic.
Lying just north of the cork forests of Catalunya the Monks were successfully able to adapt cork stoppers which while tied tightly to each bottle allowed them to contain the under pressure precious liquid in order to conduct Secondary Fermentation, and after much fine tuning they gave the World the first sparkling wine.
In the present day Bulle de Blanquette is only produced in the Appellation Blanquette de Limoux. Under the rules of the Appellation the main grape variety to be used for Bulle de Blanquette must be Mauzac, the local variety that has been used for wine production in the region for 500 years, which must make up a minimum of 90% of the juice, the remainder can be made up of Chardonnay or Chenin Blanc. Previously it was only Mauzac used, but in recent times Chardonnay and Chenin Blanc have been added to give Blanquette a more International flavour, and to allow winemakers a slightly broader spectrum from which to create nuances to their wine.
Tradition stipulates that Bulle de Blanquette is only bottled during the full moon in March, which means approximately six months in barrels, this tradition stems from the need to keep the yeast warm throughout the process. If the wine was bottled at harvest the bottles would explode after the yeast awakens in the warmth of spring, this way the fermentation process is completed before the onset of winter, thus avoiding any drastic temperature changes prior to the completion of the fermentation process.
The grapes for Bulle de Blanquette are all picked by hand, and gently packed into small boxes to preserve each berry, any grapes that are broken, too big or too small are discarded. The Appellation stipulates that yield sizes are kept very small to maximise the quality of the perfectly ripened berries.
The only other Blanquette wine within the Appellation is Blanquette Methode Ancestral, which can be made only from Mauzac grapes. The single fermentation method utilized results in a sweeter sparkling wine which can have a cloudy appearance due to the expired yeast being still present throughout the fermentation process.
Limoux, a small market town residing in the Aude Department in the foothills of the Pyrenees has lent it’s name to the wines of it’s surrounding region for many hundreds of years. The Appellation lies within a small region which consists of only 41 often tiny communes in and around the 2000 year old town of Limoux totalling 4500 hectares.
Carnaval
Fun fact about Limoux which started from a 700 year old tradition of Millers being released from their tax burden, who celebrated their financial freedom by walking the streets of the villages dispensing sugared almonds and flour, accompanied by Minstrels. This tradition is kept alive in the annual Carnaval de Limoux which runs from January to April each year and is self-described as the longest carnival in the World.
Thousand’s of people converge on Limoux each year to partake in the sights and sounds of carnival, and of course to indulge in a seemingly limitless supply of Bulle de Blanquette.
In the centre of Cathar country, and with it’s undeniable gift to the World in the form of millions of tiny bubbles, Limoux is a proud, historic, and culturally significant detour that is a must for lovers of history, culture, rustic cuisine, and of course the World’s oldest sparkling wine.
