Picking out top wines from sunny southern France
Flying to Carcassonne is very easy and worth it — the old Cathar city of Carcassonne being one of those places everyone should visit. You’ve missed it this year but a trip to see the Bastille Day firework display bouncing off the old battlements is another thing you should put on your bucket list.
One of the best visits on the trip was to Domaine Begude on a hillside in Limoux, an appellation dominated by Co-Ops making sparkling Crémant de Limoux and Blanquette de Limoux — unlike their neighbours the estate focuses on still wines. Catherine and James Kinglake moved from their jobs in the City to Domaine Begude in 2003 and while it has clearly been very hard work it is hard not to envy them and the idyllic landscape they inhabit. Moving to France also brought good luck as Catherine found herself pregnant soon after her arrival.
