Ermitage Du Pic St. Loup Coteaux Du Languedoc Cuvee St. Agnes Blanc 2011

Winery: Ermitage Du Pic St. Loup

Varietal: White Rhone Blend

The Rhone region of France has been producing superb quality white blended wines for centuries, and is a region highly respected and esteemed around the world, with plenty of New World countries keen to emulate the styles and techniques displayed by the historic wineries and skilled vintners of the area. The secret to the Rhone's success when it comes to blended white wines is the careful and expert selection of certain grape varietals, which each lend special features to the blended wine and bring balance and harmony to the bottle. Most commonly, blended white Rhone wines feature no more than two grapes of either the Viognier, Rousanne, Marsanne or Grenache Blanc varietals, and are renowned for their exceptional flavors and highly aromatic, floral character.

Region: Languedoc Roussillon

The southern French region of Languedoc Roussillon is one of the most important wine regions on earth, being responsible for over a third of France's annual output – a vast quantity of wine which exceeds even the annual output of the United States. Despite the fact that Languedoc Roussillon produces such enormous quantities of wine, the quality of the region's output remains a priority for the wineries which operate there. Languedoc Roussillon takes great pride in the fact that could be considered one of the oldest wine regions in the world, with a history which stretches back thousands of years to the ancient Greeks, and remains highly important to this day. Vintners in Languedoc Roussillon work with a wide range of grape varietals, and the region produces a wide variety of wines, from still red and white table wines, to blended and aged wines, dessert and sparkling wines.

Country: France

It is widely understood and accepted that the finest wines in the world come out of France. Whether you are drinking a vintage bottle from one of the famed Grand Cru wineries of Bordeaux - such as Chateau Margaux or Chateau Lafite-Rothschild - or a more simple and affordable bottle from one of the lesser known appellations in Burgundy, the likelihood is that the wine is packed full of intense and interesting flavors, and has a fine, balanced structure typical of almost all French produce. This reputation for excellence is taken extremely serious by the French, with dozens of regularly updated laws and regulations ensuring the quality and accurate labeling of wines. Such dedication and passion for fine wine, representative of the region in which it is produced, means customers can be assured that when they buy a bottle from France, they are buying something almost certain to please and delight.