The Tour de France came down off the Pyrenees briefly yesterday for a stage finish in the town of Pau (64 Pyrenees-Atlantiques, Aquitaine) at the heart of the Jurancon wine region.
Jurancon is a small village just west of Pau on the Grave de Pau (river), all set in the foothills of the Pyrenees. Only producing white wines from grapes such as Gros Manseng, Petit Manseng
and Petit Courbu these tend to be highly aromatic intense wines.
You have to be a little careful though, as both dry (very dry) and sweet wines are produced - so if you want a dry Jurancon always select Jurancon Sec AC, otherwise you can end up with anything from a sweet table wine through to a rich dessert wine!
My preference is for the dry white, which can be exquisite - full of fresh citrussy flavour, refreshing and long in the mouth, At the other extreme some of the oaked dessert or late harvest wines made from 100% Petit Manseng are pure nectar and well worth seeking out - especially in the half-bottle or 50cl sizes.
We imported the wines of Domaine de Cinquau from Artiguelouve (west of Jurancon) who produce an excellent range of Jurancon wines at good prices. They welcome visitors to the domaine (see map) and have a great tasting room with views over the slopes of the Pyrenees. Their website has full information on the wines plus details of where to buy their wines in France (including Paris and Dunkerque) - but unfortunately their wines are not available in the UK at present.
Other good producers include Chateau Jolys and Domaine Cauhapé. Devigne Wines stock Cauhapé's Jurancon Moeulleux, Ballet d'Octobre.
