Laurent Miquel Solas Albarino, Aude IGP

Description

Laurent Miquel Solas Albarino is a white wine produced in the Languedoc wine-growing region in France. Albarino from France is still relatively rare and is much more widely planted in Galicia in Spain and in Portugal, where it is known as Alvarinho. It is bottled as an Aude Indication Geographique Protegee.

Laurent Miquel wines is a forward-thinking 200-hectare family-run estate, based in Cessenon sur Orb in the Languedoc region. The current owner and winemaker Laurent Miquel represents the eighth generation of winemakers in his family. He is known for his commitment to producing high-quality wines that reflect the unique characteristics of the Languedoc terroir. Laurent returned home to in 1996 to work with his father, Henri (known locally as Monsieur Syrah), and in 2001 Laurent’s Irish wife Neasa joined the business. The family estate now consists of over 200 hectares of vines in the Languedoc: 150 hectares at Château Cazal Viel, and an additional 50 hectares at Château Auzines, in Corbières, where Laurent and Neasa put down their own roots in 2009.

Miquel was the first wine producer in over 400 years to plant Albarino. He has planted some 27 hectares of Albarino at an altitude og 350m in the oothills of the Pyrénees. White wines thrive here owing to the cooler mornings and the breezes that come down from the mountains, which result in a vibrant and lively acidity in the wines.

The grapes for the Laurent Miquel Solas Albarino are harvested at night time to ensure that they arrive cool and in best condition to the winery. The grapes are pressed followed by juice selection, must clarification at low temperatures, fermentation at 16-17 °C and maturation on lees in stainless steel tanks.

‘Solas’ is the Irish for ‘light’, and in French means ‘joy’, ‘pleasure’ and ‘enjoyment’