Domaine de Baronarques to release first Limoux wines on open market via La Place

Baron Philippe de Rothschild S.A.’s Domaine de Baronarques is set to become the first wine from the appellation of Limoux to appear on La Place’s September ‘beyond Bordeaux’ campaign on the open market, db can reveal.

With Bordeaux en primeur 2022 done, if not exactly dusted, attention is turning to the next big date in the Bordeaux calendar, the September ‘beyond Bordeaux’ campaign.

With Joanne (one of the region’s largest and most prestigious negociants) annual press tasting having taken place last week, some of the new runners and riders are starting to identify themselves. Amongst them, The Drinks Business is delighted to be able reveal, is the first wine from the appellation of Limoux, Baron Philippe de Rothschild S.A.’s Domaine de Baronarques – in both red and white.

The two wines, as well as their Rothschild stablemates, Almaviva and Opus One, will be released in the autumn edition of the hors Bordeaux campaign on la place on the 31 August.

Domaine de Baronarques’ courtiers are Les Grands Crus and Balaresque, who have supported the project since its inception. They are now also joined by Bureau Quancard, which brings a focus, vision and specialism on the non-Bordeaux fine wine market. The wines – both red and white – will be offered with an ‘open market’ distribution in all countries excluding Japan, Switzerland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, through an extensive pool of some 25 negociants (amongst them the stars of the hors Bordeaux market).

I was lucky enough to be invited to travel to the property, 25 kilometres to the south of Carcassonne, in mid-June to talk with Baronarques’ managing director, Augustin Deschamps, and his accomplished and impressive team about the decision to bring Baronarques in open market to La Place and the exciting work in both the vineyard and the chai that has made this possible. My tasting notes for the (deeply impressive) new release and for a handful of older vintages appear below.

A brief history

Domaine de Baronarques is an historic domain, dating from the mid-16th century when it was known as Domaine de Lambert and was owned by the nearby Abbey of Saint-Polycarpe. It is located in the appellation of Limoux in the Aude department of Southern France.

After a complex history, in which the property was sold as an auction lot during the French Revolution (for 19,300 livres) and subsequently changed hands a number of times, it was finally acquired by Baroness Philippine de Rothschild and her two sons, Philippe Sereys and Julien de Beaumarchais, in 1998 (with the first vintage being 2003).

There then followed a five-year period of vineyard renovation, including significant replanting, with the vineyard converted entirely to the production of red (the white varietals would be re-planted a little later and on rather different terroirs).

2003 was also the first vintage to bear the appellation Limoux label, following the INAO’s extension of the appellation to include red wine.

The first new vintage of the white, at that stage a monovarietal Chardonnay, was 2009.

Limoux

The history of the appellation itself is fascinating. Created in 1938, Limoux was from the start an exclusively white wine appellation. It was only in 2004, after a concerted campaign initiated and led by Domaine de Baron’Arques (as it then was), that the INAO agreed to extend the appellation rule to admit and include red varietals from the Rhone and from Bordeaux: Merlot (at no less than 50% in the vineyard and 45% in the final assemblage), Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon from Bordeaux and, from the Rhone, Grenache (no longer present at Baronarques), Syrah, Carignan and Malbec. Along with Cabardès it remains one of the very few (perhaps just two) appellations to authorise both Rhone and Southwestern varietals in the blend.

Somewhat ironically, Domaine de Baronarques may well return to Vins de Pays de la Haute Vallée de l’Aude in future vintages. For, in a context of still accelerating climate change, the optimisation (through re-planting) of terroir-varietal matching at Domaine de Baronarques may well reduce the overall proportion of Merlot in the vineyard to below the appellation minimum (of 50 per cent) before there is any chance of amending the appellation rules. Time will tell. But what is clear is that the quality of the wine will take precedent (as it should) over any slavish adherence to outdated constraints imposed by the stipulation of the appellation and the INAO. These will no doubt change, but to a rather more glacial rhythm.

The estate itself is of 110 hectares. However, only 43 hectares are under vine and they form an essentially single block. But don’t be deceived. This is a veritable patchwork of very different terroirs and micro-climates, ranging in altitude (from around 250 to 350 metres) and varying in exposition, wind currents and soil types. At the same time, the entire vineyard is profoundly influenced by its almost unique combination of Atlantic and Mediterranean climatic influences and by its proximity to the Pyrenees – shaping very significantly the circulation of air and contributing to the inherent freshness of these wines despite their essentially southern location.

Crucial to this is that Domaine de Baronarques is where the regionally-predominant air flow from the Mediterranean south, funnelled and channelled by the contours of the valleys in the foothills of the Pyrenees, meets that from the Atlantic rather further away. The combination and interaction between these influences forms the micro-climate of the vineyard. Altitude is no less crucial, contributing as it does to the fresh nights which, in turn, allow a longer, slower maturation of the grapes on the vines (as is very discernible in the quality of the tannins). Freshness also comes from the typically low pH and natural acidity of the predominantly limestone-rich sub-soils. And whilst, above all in the context of recent vintages, alcohol levels in the Chardonnay have been rising, this is now compensated for with the lower alcohol and additional freshness of the Chenin Blanc (a recent addition to the complexity of the terroir-varietal matching that is so integral to the white as much as the red).

Though the appellation rules, for the red at least, are invariably referred to as permitting the bringing together of Rhône and Bordeaux varietals, that is not at all how the property thinks of them. Its philosophy is much more based on matching what are seen as locally indigenous varietals to the diversity of terroirs on offer at Domaine de Baronarques. This is the key to the complexity of both wines in that it provides a rich palette of vinous opportunities from which the wine is assembled, much like an artist constructing a painting on a blank canvas.

Tasting notes

The new releases on La Place

• Domaine de Baronarques blanc 2021 (Limoux; 95% Chardonnay; 5% Chenin Blanc; 13% alcohol). Creamy, rich and yet wonderfully pure, focused and precise. Quite floral and delicate at first on the nose with a salivating salinity and freshness. Everything about this is crystalline. Very pure. Very fine. The most vertical in its aromatic presentation of this little flight of vintages. This has a glorious shape and evolution across the palate in the mouth. Tighter and tenser from the start than the 2020, the freshness incorporated throughout rather than welling up from below. Very structured. A brilliantly gracious wine of great freshness – dense, like the 2020, but more compact, taut and tense. Incredibly long and incredibly linear … tapering in steps towards the finish (like descending a long mountain staircase). The finish is so dynamic and lively – one senses the health of the vineyard. The best Domaine de Baronarques I have ever tasted. 94.

• Domaine de Baronarques rouge 2021 (Limoux; 64% Merlot; 13% Cabernet Franc; 13% Malbec; 8% Syrah; 2% Cabernet Sauvignon; 14% alcohol). Elegant, subtle yet aromatically expressive and very beautifully scented. Wild herbs. A lovely leafy freshness and a brilliantly plump crunchy fruit. Cassis. Blueberry. This is lively, charged and vertical – there’s almost a sense of St Emilion plateau limestone about this, with that verticality and those ultra-fine-grained chalky tannins. A fascinatingly complex wine, even at this early stage. Very much a wine of delicacy and finesse. I love the sapidity and the rippling juiciness on the finish. Etiolated and refined, with just a little of the warmth of the south to it. 92+.

Prior releases

• Domaine de Baronarques blanc 2020 (Limoux; 98% Chardonnay; 2% Chenin Blanc; 13% alcohol). Richer than the 2021 and less oaky than the 2018 (though the wood is not at all obvious with any of these wines). Excellent. A step up from the 2018. Bright, extremely crisp and aromatically very expressive and quite vertical, the scents seemingly projected forcefully upwards like fireworks. On the nose, toasted almonds and hazelnuts, fresh pear and a hint of apricot skin, sage, marjoram and verbena, candle wax and cordite – with perhaps a little fleur d’oranger. The small amount of Chenin Blanc in fact makes a big difference. Broader and richer but with a lovely up-swell and under-current of freshness, like swimming away from the shore and finding oneself unexpectedly at greater depth than one had imagined. I find this explosively fresh, giving the impression of little upwardly pointing fire hydrants of juicy, sapid fruit. But there is impressive richness too, interspersed with little waves and wafts of zesty citrus and the same herbal elements from the nose. At first this is perhaps a little abrupt on the finish, but as this draws in the air it seems to relax, unfurl and stretch out.
  92.

• Domaine de Baronarques blanc 2018 (Limoux; 100% Chardonnay 13% alcohol). Fresh, bright and clean. Lime notes, lime zest, grapefruit and a little hint of exoticism. Candlewax. Elderflower. Jasmine. Bright, vertical and very fresh but rich. A little guava and a touch of apricot with that natural sweetness but fresh acidity. Dynamic and energetic. Slightly chewy on the finish. Quite a classic vintage. This is much more essentially Chardonnay in character – there’s a little of the Chablis grand cru to it (Les Clos, perhaps). Frangipane. Richer and less tense than the younger vintages. 90.

• Domaine de Baronarques rouge 2020 (Limoux; 45% Merlot; 32% Cabernet Franc; 15% Syrah; 7% Malbec; 1% Cabernet Sauvignon 15% alcohol). Sunny – or, as the French would have it ‘solaire’, certainly in the context of this little vertical tasting. But tense, taut and charged at the same time. Charcuterie notes. Cinnamon and sweet spices, a little black pepper, some expensive grated dark chocolate. A little beeswax too. In the mouth this is fluid and dynamic and it evolves glacially over the palate, even whilst feeling quite sunny and southern. Quite creamy; a little more oak presence at this stage than the 2021. Cinnamon toast. Leather. But then all that freshness comes through, just when it is needed. Chiselled and elegant, with a lovely hint of graphite and plenty of saline minerality. Inevitably, there’s quite a lot of (fine-grained) tannin to resolve. But this is gracious, long and tapering on the finish whilst always remaining fluid and dynamic. 91+.

• Domaine de Baronarques rouge 2015 (Limoux; 57% Merlot; 15% Cabernet Franc; 4% Cabernet Sauvignon; 13% Syrah; 11% Malbec; 15% alcohol). I love the aromatics. Lots of classic cedar notes and a lovely lively florality: rose petals and violets, a little touch of eucalyptus, even a hint of camomile. This is rich, quite spicy and nutty – walnut shell. It’s less vertical than the younger vintages. Dense and very compact. Indeed, this still feels very young, even a little closed and there is a fair bit of tannin still to resolve. A veritable vin de garde. A bit more serious and closed than the 2010. Long and sapid, rippling on the finish even if the tannins are considerable and a tad more austere than would be today, but with no hint of any dryness. 90.

• Domaine de Baronarques rouge 2010 (Limoux; 51% Merlot; 23% Cabernet Franc; 14% Syrah; 6% Malbec; 6% Cabernet Sauvignon; 14.5% alcohol). Very impressive. Classic. Cedary. Leather. Black chocolate gratings. A little espresso coffee. With a little aeration we pass quite quickly to more tertiary notes – above all black truffle. Lovely cedar and graphite notes again on the palate – though they are quite subtle – and this feels younger in the mouth than aromatically. Long and chiselled. Fresh. This is quite compact in the mouth and well-structured, showing the great quality of the terroir. Lovely tension; very balanced. Slightly sweet and with that signature salinity. Chewy on the finish. A wine that really shows the potential of this estate. Quite aristocratic. 92+.