Guests on our Karma Curated Experience around Carcassonne in August will have the opportunity to discover an intriguing theory about the origins of one of the most iconic French tipples: Champagne.
The origins of this most famous of sparkling wines is generally attributed to Dom Perignon – a monk who developed the Champagne method 300 years ago. But there’s another intriguing theory that the Champagne method actually originated in the picturesque town of Limoux, nestled in the heart of Southern France close to Karma Chateau de Samary.
According to this hypothesis, it was here, centuries before Dom Perignon’s famed experiments in the Champagne region, that monks first discovered the technique of creating sparkling wine through a secondary fermentation in the bottle.
Historical records suggest that monks at the Abbey of St. Hilaire in Limoux were producing sparkling wine using the traditional method as early as the 16th century. These early iterations of sparkling wine, known as Blanquette de Limoux, are believed to have laid the groundwork for the development of Champagne as we know it today.
Dom Perignon certainly refined and popularised the Champagne method but some historians speculate that he may have been influenced by the practices of the monks in Limoux… Why not join us this August at Karma Château de Samary and explore the theory yourself?!
