The Pyrénées are a large mountain range that act as a natural border between France and Spain. On the French side, just about 2 hours east of San Sebastián, is the wine growing region of Jurançon (zhur-ahn-sohn). This wine appellation was made famous by the legend that Jurançon wines were used at the baptism of King Henry IV. The wines are found in both dry and sweet styles. If the wine is dry, it must bear the name “Sec” on the label to denote dryness, if not, you can expect Jurançon to be a sweet wine with a minimum of 40 grams of sugar. There are 2 major white grape varietals used in the region: Gros Manseng and Petit Manseng, the former being used for dry styles.

The wine we are offering today is their Jurançon Sec “Cuvee Marie,” and it is made with a majority Gros Manseng, with only a small amount of Petit Courbu added. The grapes are harvested in late October and fermented in mostly neutral French oak barrels (10% new), where it stays until bottling. This wine is concentrated, dry, mineral driven and fresh with flavors of green pineapple core, mango peel, watermelon rind, lemon zest, salt and crushed rocks. Dont be afraid to decant this white for 30 minutes before enjoying. Like many serious whites this wine gets better with oxygen and shows more personality when not served too cold, ideally around 55 degrees or so. I have had this wine at 3 star Michelin restaurants and it is on many great wine lists.  This is wine should peak over the next 3-5 years and is an amazing expression the the Pyrénées.