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   At the foothills of the Pyrenees, between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, on the banks of the river Aude, lies the small town of Limoux, birthplace of the sparkling wine, Blanquette. The Limoux appellation production area, an area of clay and limestone – ideal for producing exceptional wine – is one of the most beautiful viticultural terroirs in the Languedoc, where in the 12th century, the atrocities against the Cathars took place. Yes, here the hoarding declare, Vous êtes en pays Cathare.

   We discovered the area by chance when visiting the historic city of Carcassonne whilst looking for a holiday home in France. The vine covered slopes of the Aude enchanted us, even in December; it was love at first sight. We discovered Blanquette by chance too for it was offered as an apéritif with lunch at the Grand Café in Limoux. ‘Champagne?’ we spluttered on first sip, ‘what an extravagant aperitif!’ Then we remembered seeing the Blanquette de Limoux hoardings on our way into town. But it was only when we eventually bought a house in a nearby village, and began to live in France for most of the year, that we eventually got to know the different kinds of sparkling wine that Limoux has to offer.

   Sieur d’Arques is the largest producer of Blanquette in Limoux, having three caveaux in the town, but it is just one of the many producers. On a leisurely drive through the high-banked, narrow roads of the surrounding villages, you will see names like Guinot Blanquette, Limouzy Valent and Domaine de Peyret for instance. Although there are many producers, there are just three local appellations: Blanquette de Limoux, Limoux Méthod Ancestrale and Crémant de Limoux.

   We visit Sieur d’Arques on a regular basis because visiting friends and family inevitably wish to take the golden liquid home with them. Here, wine tasting for Brits is quite an experience – to get something for free for a start – and then to be offered this wonderful commodity so casually yet enthusiastically, without being expected to buy crates of it, makes for an occasion pleasant in the extreme.

   The interior of the Sieur d’Arques caves sparkle as lights rebound off glittering displays of wines of every kind: sitting plump in straw baskets, elegant on red velvet pedestals, grouped together in wooden cases, individually presented in hemp sacks, or in silk-lined boxes, and if that weren’t enough, there are equally colourful displays promoting the accoutrements of wine drinking: decanters, speciality glasses, ingenious openers, decorative wine racks, and all interspersed with posters and paintings of grapes and the beautiful terrain where they thrive.

   The girls in charge of the dégustation now know which type of sparkling wine we prefer and insist on starting with a tasting of it, despite our protests. ‘But you can taste it again, no?’ It’s a kind of politesse we are always greeted with and have now come to expect.

   If our visitors offer to take us out for a meal, they are invariably steered toward the Blanquette restaurant in Limoux, with the impressive inducement that all the wine is free - as three London writers discovered this May - the day before the start of the Poetry Symposium at Queille.. The occasion starts with an aperitif of A.O.C. Blanquette or A.O.C. Crémant with the delicious accompaniment of prebradous, peppery savoury biscuits – a local speciality. Apéritifs are followed by a bottle of wine for each couple – either their Montplaisir red (Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon) or the Montplaisir Chardonnay. A local speciality, Fricassée de Limoux, which on the surface, seems to be just another casserole, is often served with a sparkling wine of your choice. This Fricassée is in fact, pork marinated in Blanquette and other liquids then cooked with white haricot beans with typical French flair, turning what could have been an ordinary casserole into a dish fit for a Louis X1V banquet.

   As long as 2000 years ago, Limoux was praised for its wine – still white wine in those days – by none other than Titus Livy, author of the monumental History of Rome. But it was in 1531 that a monk from the abbey of Saint Hilaire, only a few kilometres from Limoux, discovered the natural transformation of still wine into sparkling wine, and the first sparkling brut was born. Limousines delight in boasting that it was their ancestors who gave winegrowers in northern France the idea for producing Champagne over 300 years later.

   Blanquette de Limoux is a sparkling wine from Mauzac grapes picked by hand, and is made using the Méthode Champenoise which involves more than one major fermentation. This wine is blended with Chardonnay or Chenin Blanc to produce a sharp, refreshing fizz, what Oz Clarke, the author of many books on wine describes as ‘a green apple skin’ flavour. The dry variety is generally drunk as an appetiser, but it is also served with meals in local restaurants, chilled to 8° C. The semi-dry is often served with light desserts and is one of the few wines that go well with chocolate flavours.

   Limoux Méthode Ancestrale describes wines made in the traditional method by awaiting spring re-fermentation in the bottle following the cold of winter. Only a small quantity of wine is made this way with hand-picked Mauzac grapes. Tasting reveals fruity flavours of apple, blackberry and even apricot. Best served slightly cooler than the Blanquette at around 6-7°C., this is a great wine to serve with soft-fruit desserts.

   The more recent Crémant de Limoux, created in 1990, has higher proportions of Chardonnay and Chenin Blanc in the blend. Dégustation reveals a white-flower palette associated with citrus fruits and apricot, some tasters even discerning honey notes in the wine. It is a wonderful complement to fish and white meat dishes. But when served at 6 -7°C, Crémant is the perfect appetiser. This wine has become a firm favourite with our family and friends, and is now fondly thought of as the prelude to leisurely alfresco lunches on hot, summer afternoons.

   Sieur d’Arques is listed in Oz Clarke’s Pocket Wine Book 2006 as one of the best producers of sparkling wine in the world. Perhaps that has something to do with the fact that, as well taking into account the geology and climate of this special region of the Languedoc, Sieur d’Arques produce their own yeast for the second fermentation in the bottle.

   Limoux's sparkling wines have become such a part of our lives, that when planning a surprise birthday party for my husband in England, I wanted to make sure we had Blanquette for the ‘Champagne’ toast. (Not only is it half the price of Champagne, but also, we discovered, it has a more wide-ranging appeal). Before going back to England that October, friends who live in the village kindly came with me to buy two dozen bottles since it would be they who would ‘secrete’ them to England ready for the party in November. Although our favourite Blanquette is the Sieur d’Arques Diaphane A.O.C. Grande Cuvée, a traditional Blanquette de Limoux, for the party I chose their A.O.C. Grande Cuvée Millénaire, a Crémant which comes with a prestigious red and gold label and mayoral red ribbon fastened with a gold seal. This is the wine that our friends choose when they visit – being less sharp than the brut but equally fruity, it seems to appeal to most tastes and is best drunk young. Pas de problème!

   The British are not the only ones with a preference for Blanquette. When the Café de la Galloise opened in Alaigne, the whole village was invited to the inauguration, and greeted with a free glass of Blanquette. Every year, the festive Club du Troisième Age meal begins with a choice of Blanquette or Sangria. No prizes for guessing which drink disappears first – if taste doesn’t do it, nationalism will. In fact, a popular explanation for the origin of Limoux’s masked carnival, the Fécos, the earliest and longest fête in the French calendar, links it with the local sparkling wines.

   A few years ago, the village choir was invited to a member’s 50th wedding anniversary lunch. Maryse, president of the Club du Troisième Âge, ordered a three litre bottle of Blanquette for the couple on the choir’s behalf. This was no ordinary bottle. Maryse had surreptitiously acquired a photograph of the couple, and had a special label made which incorporated not only the photograph of Jeanette and Joseph, but also their names and the date of the anniversary. The couple’s beaming faces on the photographs later passed round at choir practice, show their obvious delight with the prestigious Jeroboam of Blanquette de Limoux.

   According to Louis Pasteur, wine is ‘the healthiest and most hygienic of drinks’. More recently, a scientific study now known as ‘the French Paradox’, has shown that in spite of above average consumption of animal fat (foie gras, confits, cassoulet), there are fewer cases of heart disease in the inhabitants of South-West France than in the northern European countries.

   Situated in south-west, Limoux and its sparkling wines have been a well-kept secret for a long time, but if our friends and members of the Queille/FLR poetry symposium are anything to go by, all that is about to change. So if you find yourself at the crossroads between Spain, south-west France and the Mediterranean, and if you haven’t yet tried Blanquette de Limoux, be sure to make a point of sampling this incomparable wine for yourself. And if you visit between January and April, you may even get a free glass at Limoux's masked carnival - the Fécos.