Don’t miss Jurançon
Jurançon is a lovely small town in the foothills of the Pyrénées mountains, near the city of Pau, in South West France. Jurançon gives its name to wine made from grapes grown in the hills behind the town.
The hills of Jurançon offer some of the most spectacular vineyard landscapes in France (see photos). In some vistas you can see the beautiful Pyrénées mountains in the background. The vines are notable for their height, an adaptation to avoid frost.
Jurançon is an appellation for both sweet and dry white wines, but the sweet wines are much more famous. The wines here are predominantly based on the Gros Manseng and Petit Manseng grape varieties, with the former providing the finesse and the latter the volume. The vineyards of Jurançon likely date back to the middle ages, around the 14th Century.
For my money, Jurançon wines are excellent, combining aromatic intensity and freshness. Jurançon wine was reportedly popular with Henri IV. And according to the experts, it can age nicely over many years.
But the acreage of Jurançon has been cut back massively since the 19th century due to the arrival of phylloxera, the two world wars and the effects of rural depopulation.
Logistics
Since I arrived in the neighbouring town of Pau by train, I needed to hire a taxi to get up into the vineyard hills.