Friarwood

TOQUES ET CLOCHERS
Toques et Clochers, the annual charity auction held in Limoux, is the second most important wine auction in France after the Hospice de Beaune auction in Burgundy.The event was started in 1989 by Les Vignerons du Sieur d’Arques to bring together leading chefs and the wine world to purchase the famous Chardonnay AOC Limoux barrels. The wine is inspected and tasted in the morning by all the bidders to determine the quality and assess which wine style most appeals. In Limoux the four distinct ‘terroirs’ have been divided on the basis of climate, soil, altitude, slope, exposure and topographical
situation into Mediterranean, Oceanique, Autan and Haut Vallee.The special attraction of this wine lies in the rarity of the finished item. Each cask produces three hundred bottles, and only two casks are produced. Baron Philippe de Rothschild from Château Mouton Rothschild, 1er Cru Classé Pauillac, is assisting the region to raise the profile of these great wines.The proceeds of this auction go to a nominated church in the region to restore and maintain the building. Hence the name of the auction ‘Toques’ (the chef’s hat) and ‘Clocher’ (church tower). So far nine bell towers in the region have been restored thanks to the generosity of the bidders. The recipient from the 1999 auction was the romanesque church tower in the village of St Hillaire, suitably so, as it was the monks of the abbey of Saint Hillaire who invented the first sparkling wine in 1531, Blanquette de Limoux, for which the region is famed.

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