After years of searching for the perfect Languedoc white, I’m delighted to say that I’ve finally found The One.

The Languedoc - with its high altitude, complex soils and rich tapestry of old vines - should be heaven for making white wines.

It’s got all the raw ingredients to be held right up there with Burgundy and the Loire, France’s other great white wine regions.

Maybe it’s because there’s a better history of making reds here, that I’ve always struggled to find a white wine I’d be proud to hang my hat on.

Until I tried this wine when visiting Virgile and Magdalela Joly in the Languedoc recently!

It’s a blend of Grenache Blanc and Rolle (also known as Vermentino) from the up-and-coming Saint-Saturnin region.

Saint-Saturnin is an up-and-coming appellation in the Larzac’s southern foothills, with hot days and cold nights producing grapes with that perfect balance of full flavour and freshness. 

Virgile’s Grenache Blanc on its own gives beautiful flavours of white peach, pear and a lovely minerality too. He then adds 20-25% of Rolle to the blend, which gives it extra complexity and takes it from good to great, and ages it for 18 months in fine French oak barrels.

This wine was awarded 98/100 points and won Best In Show at Millésime Bio, a big organic wine fair in Montpellier that I go to every year.

With Burgundy getting more and more out of reach for people in France, Virgile tells me he’s winning hearts with this wine as a great alternative.

So try it for yourself and see exactly why - for a really top French white, it's an amazing price too.