Winemaker Notes
Honeyed sweetness, apple, beeswax, tropical fruit define the palate.
Pair with all desserts and blue cheese.
Professional Ratings
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Wine & Spirits
Jean Guirouilh’s family has been making wine in the Jurançon since the 16th century. They farm 24 acres of vines on the hillsides above the village of Lasseube, and harvested the grapes for this wine in late October. The fermentation starts slowly in their cold cellar, where they hold the juice in stainless steel vats until spring, and then stop it to retain 85 grams of residual sugar in the wine. That sweetness gives a buxom weight to the honeycomb matrix of flavors ranging from green, Riesling-like fruit to papaya and pineapple. It feels airy and sweet on the finish, like a meringue. Pour it alongside a washed-rind cheese so stinky your date left the restaurant. Their loss.
With hundreds of white grape varieties to choose from, winemakers have the freedom to create a virtually endless assortment of blended white wines. In many European regions, strict laws are in place determining the set of varieties that may be used in white wine blends, but in the New World, experimentation is permitted and encouraged. Blending can be utilized to enhance balance or create complexity, lending different layers of flavors and aromas. For example, a variety that creates a soft and full-bodied white wine blend, like Chardonnay, would do well combined with one that is more fragrant and naturally high in acidity. Sometimes small amounts of a particular variety are added to boost color or aromatics. Blending can take place before or after fermentation, with the latter, more popular option giving more control to the winemaker over the final qualities of the wine.
Offering the perfect balance of quality and value, Southwest, France is a recognized appellation that encompasses all wine regions in France’s southwestern corner (except for Bordeaux and Cognac, which merit their very own). Two of the more famous subregions here are Cahors, known for its Malbec, and Madiran, home of the robust Tannat grape. Bordeaux Blends are also popular red wines of the Southwest; Petit Manseng is the regions’s star autochthonous white variety.