Saint-Péray: Domaine Rémy Nodin 'Cuvee Ernest' Mousseux Brut

Made from the earliest-picked grapes in the appellation, this Brut Nature bottling has no added sugar, giving a very pure expression of this rare Rhône sparkling wine. Blended from 80% Marsanne and 20% Roussanne that are grown on the Beylesse and Julière lieux-dits, it has a crisp, elegant acidity, rounded stone-fruit texture and fine mousse. From the early 1800s, the sparkling wines of Saint-Péray were lauded in the same sentence as Champagne but the ravages of phylloxera and unscrupulous 19th century négociants put paid to its reputation. Served to such luminaries as the Russian Tsars, Pope Pius VII and Queen Victoria, the appellation comprises some 98ha and was inaugurated in 1936. Sited on the western bank of the Rhône some 5km west of Valence, the rugged slopes of the Mialan valley are home to a cooler microclimate and a mix of limestone-clay and chipped granite soils with alluvial deposits make for differing styles depending on location. This blend of Marsanne and Roussanne comes from vines aged around 10 to 35 years old on average. Saint-Péray: Domaine Rémy Nodin 'Cuvee Ernest' Mousseux Brut. Domaine Rémy Nodin. Rhône Wine > Saint-Péray Wine. White Wine