The Hidden South-West

Travel a couple of hours south from Bordeaux you’ll find yourself in an area of France, close to the foothills of the Pyrenees, where they produce a range of very distinctive wines, most of which are barely known outside the immediate region.  The climate this far south is quite warm, so chunky, full-bodied reds abound, but this is also the home of one of my favourite sweet wines: the fresh, honeyed Jurançon.  You’ll occasionally see a bottle in the UK; if you do, I recommend you give it a try.

But back to those big reds.  I was given a bottle of Madiran a while back and promised that I wouldn’t open it for at least 3 years.  Well, it’s now spring 2024 (even if the weather doesn’t feel like it!) and, as the bottle is from the 2019 vintage, I decided it was time to rescue it from our wine rack under the stairs.

Chateau Barrejat is made with the main grape variety from the Madiran region, Tannat, but with some Cabernet Sauvignon and Franc added.  I often mention old vines in my blogs but, here, they claim that the vines are aged between 80 and 200 years – truly historic!

The old vines gave the wine a real depth and intensity.  There’s some black fruit there but really the fruit flavours are more dried than fresh – prunes and figs – and all with a pronounced spicy, savoury oak background.  I opened and decanted it a couple of hours before drinking to get some air into it to release more of the flavours and to soften the tannins which were still quite noticeable, even in a 4 year old wine.

The food match?  Probably the locals would choose Cassoulet but, for us, it had to be a robust full-flavoured casserole.  Beef would have worked fine, but we used some venison that we’d frozen last autumn instead and that paired well, too.

The far south-west is an interesting area of France, often ignored by tourists, but wine lovers should take note as Jurançon and Madiran are just 2 of the exciting hidden gems to be found there.

A Message for 2023

Let me begin this, my first Bristol Wine Blog of 2023, by wishing you a Happy, Healthy and Peaceful New Year.  

After a couple of years when Covid restricted our ability to meet with friends and family, we had hoped for a more positive time this year but, looking around at all the sadness and conflict in the world, my wife and I chose to make the holiday season quite a low-key affair although we did, of course, enjoy a glass or two to remind ourselves that we are among the luckier ones.

The Jurançon region is in the foothills of the Pyrenees on the French side and is best known as a source of delicious late-harvested dessert wines.  But the same local grape varieties, picked earlier, are also used to produce some full, rich dry whites (always labelled ‘Jurançon Sec’).  We opened an excellent example to accompany some cheeses shared with a couple of good friends over the holiday break.  Domaine Cauhapé’s ‘Geyser’ Sec (Wine Society, £13.50) has lovely, vibrant flavours of grapefruit and honey and a long satisfying finish.  Not just a wine to pair with cheeses – it would work well with elegant fish dishes, too.

Of the reds we enjoyed, Te Mata’s Syrah from Hawkes Bay in New Zealand (Majestic, £14.99) went perfectly with some slow-cooked lamb shanks.  It’s significant that the producer chose to use the French name for the grape variety, Syrah, (rather than Shiraz), as the wine is definitely made in a more restrained, ‘European’ style with perfumed black fruits and hints of pepper.  Delightful.

And so, to the one question that always arises at this time of year: ‘what was the best wine you tasted last year?’  As ever, I find that almost impossible to answer but I can say which was the most memorable: Purcari’s “Freedom Blend” is a mixture of grapes from Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia with part of the proceeds from sales supporting refugees from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It reflected a friendship between countries and a willingness to use wine for good.  A message for 2023?   

Jurançon: Sweet or Dry

Many years ago, in my early days of studying wine (rather than just drinking it), one of the bottles our tutor brought in for us to taste was a delightful sweet wine that none of us had ever heard of before.  It was called Jurançon and it resulted in an immediate ‘Wow!’ from the whole class.  I’ve been buying it ever since – when I can find it, that is, because production is not large and much of it is drunk locally, which, in this case, is in the far south-west corner of France in the foothills of the Pyrenees.

I couldn’t recommend one producer over another – they all have their own slightly different styles – but I haven’t had a bad bottle yet, so, if you enjoy dessert wine and see Jurançon, then I’d suggest you give it a try.

As I got to know these wines better, I realised that, apart from the lovely sweet bottles, there was also a dry equivalent: Jurançon Sec – if it doesn’t have ‘sec’ on the label it will be sweet.  Both are made from a blend of Petit Manseng and Gros Manseng, with some Courbu and Camaralet added to some of the dry versions.  All are local grape varieties; none, as far as I know, is grown outside the region, so those in search of membership of the ‘100 Club’ should take note!

As with the sweet versions, Jurançon Sec from most producers is worth buying although we particularly enjoyed Domaine Montesquiou’s Cuvade Préciouse (Vine Trail, £13) recently.  Its tangy flavours of citrus and herbs and just a hint of spicy smokiness from the gentle oak ageing reminded me of a nice white Burgundy – there were certainly shades of the same flavours in an Auxey-Duresses we had in a restaurant a few days later; the only difference: excluding the inevitable restaurant mark-up, the Jurançon would be about half the price!