White wine and cheese at Rives Blanques

White wine and cheese at Rives Blanques – Love That Languedoc episode 38

We finish up our white wine and cheese tasting at Château Rives-Blanques. Make sure you start with the first part of our Mauzac and cheese tasting. I have to stress what a wonderful time I had pairing three styles of Mauzac with a few different cheeses from the south of France, and some from more exotic locales.

The wines:
Cuvée Occitania, Château Rives-Blanques, AOC Limoux
Xaxa 2004, Château Rives-Blanques, Vin de Table Vendanges d’Hiver

The Cheeses:
Brebis (sheep/ewe milk)
Roquefort (Did you know this is Languedoc too?)
Chèvre d’Ariège
honey and fig juice, artisanal

See also:
Occitania – this area pre-French identity; “Languedoc” means language of oc. Oc means “yes” in Occitan.
“Nostra terra mentis pas” means “our land does not lie.”
Mauzac – One of the three varietals included in Limoux’s AOC. I think it’s also grown in Gaillac. Rives Blanques is one of the very estates that produces Mauzac as a still wine.

Tags: blanque, bleu cheese, blue cheese, brebis, cheese, chenin blanc, chevre, dessert wine, English, fig, honey, languedoc, late harvest, limoux, mauzac, occitania, rive, rives blanques, rocquefort, roquefort, tasting, vendanges d'hiver, white wine, xaxa

English | Ryan O'Connell January 28, 2010

7 Comments

By Rob Dougan, January 28, 2010 @ 12:32 pm

Such an evocative, charming (and lively!) part 2 of the episode!
Saw Jan on Jancis Robinson in a video looking at the vineyards. This episode really brough the domaine to life. How can you watch this and not wish to go out and taste the wines, and pretend for a moment, you were not in you own little slice of Limoux! Thanks Ryan (and Rives-Blanques of course.)
By Ryan O'Connell, January 28, 2010 @ 12:48 pm

Thanks, Rob. I am a huge fan of Rives Blanques. Their enthusiasm is contagious and they make realllly great white wines that make a perfect complement to my little collection of reds.
By Godilhaire, January 29, 2010 @ 3:44 am

Occitania (Occitània), the area where the occitan is spoken. Languedoc/Lengadòc is one part small of this area. May-be 4 milions persons speak occitan, mainly older people, because there is not policy for this language.
The occitan is one of the european language in danger to death (UNESCO say), this is because of France, and french centralism or also decentralism none-policy.
By Ryan O'Connell, January 29, 2010 @ 4:26 am

Cool, thanks for the clarification. Although it seems like using the French government’s definition of Languedoc might be feeding into French centralism! Shouldn’t we just be able to say Languedoc is where people used to speak Occitan, thus breaking away from the French National paradigm?

Either way, please correct me as often as possible since I am sorely uneducated on this very important topic. Maybe we should do a regular Occitan episode!!
By Peter GORLEY, February 1, 2010 @ 9:48 am

Caryl, Jan and Ryan – actually the Limoux piece is on the website now (p27ff).
V best,
Peter

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