Château Virgile White | Costières de Nîmes, Rhône

2008

A lovely, fruit-driven and heavily scented summery white from the very south of the Rhône, 15km from the Mediterranean. This small, 18th century estate is owned and run by the charming Baret brothers, Serge and Thierry, producers of our Château Virgile red. Over recent years they have developed a reputation for producing highly rated yet affordable whites and reds: Robert Parker describes their wines as offering "mind-boggling value."

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Our tasting notes

Clean medium straw in colour, with a nose of citrus fruits, peach and melon. Rich with mineral flavor and strong notes of apple, peach and lime. A great pairing with fried fish or indeed served as an aperitif.

Wine data

Grape variety: 45% Marsanne, 45% Roussanne, 10% Viognier
AOC: Costières de Nîmes
Alcohol: 13.5%

 

About Costières de Nîmes

The appellation of Costières de Nîmes used to be considered part of eastern Languedoc but the climate, soil, topography and wine are far closer to those just over the river in the Southern Côtes du Rhône.

It is a region with an ancient and glorious viticultural past dating back to the Greeks, who planted the first vines there. The Romans then developed this into a burgeoning wine trade whilst building the Pont du Gard and the amphitheatres of Nîmes and Arles.

Over the last ten years this region has undergone a transformation that has witnessed the emergence of a younger generation of innovative and modern wine growers who are generally producing smaller yields and far better quality wine.

Costières de Nîmes is now a region very much on the up and is widely recognized as a great source of excellent value wine.

Like the reds, the whites are made from varieties commonly found in the Rhône: Marsanne, Roussanne & Viognier. Marsanne, hails from the northern Rhône, where it is ubiquitous, and tends to produce full bodied and scented wines. As with Chateau Virgile’s red it is invariably paired with Roussanne, a fairly demanding grape that has a susceptibility to powdery mildew and rot but also has the potential to produce fantastically unique wines with great potential for aging.

These two grape varieties are the only two permitted in the white versions of the northern Rhône’s red wine appellations Hermitage, Crozes-Hermitage and St Joseph.

 

Prices are all-inclusive for deliveries to UK mainland and Northern Ireland. Minimum total order is 1 case (12 bottles of 75cl equivalent) for mainland UK and 2 cases (24 bottles of 75cl equivalent) for Northern Ireland and Highlands. We also offer a collection service for our French wines from just outside Calais, France (minimum of 5 cases from the same producer and excluding mixed cases), at a per-bottle saving of £1.50 for wines and £2.00 for Champagne, and a per-case saving of £18 for wine, £24 per 12-case/£12 per 6-case for Champagne. For details, please read our Delivery/Collection Information and Terms & Conditions.