{"id":615911,"date":"2026-08-02T00:33:23","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T00:33:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/615911\/"},"modified":"2026-08-02T00:33:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T00:33:23","slug":"your-new-favourite-white-wine-might-come-from-this-lesser-known-french-region-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/615911\/","title":{"rendered":"Your new favourite white wine might come from this lesser-known French region \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Luberon is one of the lesser-known <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/wine\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/wine\/\">wine<\/a> regions of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/france\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/france\/\">France<\/a>. It is in the hot, sunny south, with one foot in Provence, the other in the Rh\u00f4ne Valley. As you might expect, both Luberon and neighbouring Ventoux produce plenty of rich, voluptuous reds, but the winemakers there can also turn their hand to crisp dry ros\u00e9s and some tantalising white wines. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">We will return to Ventoux another week, but it was the white wines of the Luberon that really got me excited on a recent visit. Today we focus on these, which make up 25 per cent of production. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">It is surprising that a hot region can produce such vibrant white wines. This is because most of the vineyards are at altitude and often benefit from cold winds coming down from the north. They also enjoy warm days and very cold nights, which bring a wonderful freshness to the white wines. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">The grape names are less familiar; all the wines are made from a blend of two or more varieties. A producer can pick from rolle (otherwise known as vermentino) clairette, grenache blanc, ugni blanc, bourboulenc, roussanne, marsanne, viognier and more besides. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">In style, most of the wines have the aforementioned freshness alongside some delicious textured stone fruits. They make an excellent partner for most fish, white meats and lighter pasta dishes. I featured the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/food\/drink\/2026\/04\/03\/a-pair-of-french-wines-from-aldi-for-899-each\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/food\/drink\/2026\/04\/03\/a-pair-of-french-wines-from-aldi-for-899-each\/\">Petit Poulet Blanc earlier this year<\/a>. It is a Vin de France, but has all the hallmarks of a Luberon wine. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">The Mas des Infermi\u00e8res is owned by film director <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/ridley-scott\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/ridley-scott\/\">Ridley Scott<\/a>, while Ch\u00e2teau la Canorgue is where he made A Good Year starring <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/russell-crowe\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/russell-crowe\/\">Russell Crowe<\/a>, based on the Peter Mayle novel. The Domaine le Novi is one of several made by the hugely talented fifth-generation winemaker Romain Dol. <\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/X7QQUVTPY5HWHDDQI5YXRCHWJM.jpg\"   width=\"800\" height=\"338\"\/>Le Petit Poulet Blanc 2025, Vin de France12%, \u20ac8.99<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Lightly textured stone fruits with a crisp dry finish. Drink on its own or with lighter salads and fish dishes. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">From Aldi<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"JOHN WILSON WINE IMAGES 1ST AUGUST.\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/DDDLJZCCFJHKTE5DWJZIVZNEZ4.jpg\"   width=\"800\" height=\"233\"\/>Source 2025, Luberon Blanc Mas des Infermi\u00e8res13%, \u20ac23.99<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Forward and rich with mouth-filling nectarines and exotic fruits, finishing bone dry. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">From Kari Stores, Dublin 8; wineonline.ie; Letterfrack Country Shop, Co Galway<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"JOHN WILSON WINE IMAGES 1ST AUGUST.\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/6XBYIVLAVJG4VJQAJPT4ODKLR4.jpg\"   width=\"800\" height=\"238\"\/>Terre de Safres 2024, Luberon Blanc, Domaine le Novi, Organic13%, \u20ac17.95<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Acacia aromas with a racy fine acidity and succulent peach and pear fruits. Wonderful wine at a great price. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">From Mitchell &amp; Son, Sandycove, Co Dublin and Harcourt Street, Dublin 2; Avoca, Kilmacanogue, Co Wicklow and Dunboyne, Co Meath <\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"JOHN WILSON WINE IMAGES 1ST AUGUST.\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/DNEJQMYR5BDOFCIIJNOHE63BVU.jpg\"   width=\"800\" height=\"284\"\/>Ch\u00e2teau La Canorgue 2024, Luberon Blanc, Organic13%, \u20ac24.50<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Floral with delicious textured peach fruits backed up by a lively refreshing acidity. Lovely wine. Try it with white meats or salmon. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Terroirs, Dublin 4; terroirs.ie <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Luberon is one of the lesser-known wine regions of France. It is in the hot, sunny south, with&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":615912,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[73],"tags":[79,18,2220,19,17,361,23431,5791,8297],"class_list":["post-615911","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-eire","tag-france","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-magazine","tag-ridley-scott","tag-russell-crowe","tag-wine"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/117023107776462893","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615911","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=615911"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615911\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/615912"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=615911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=615911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=615911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}