4. South West

From Bordeaux down through Les Landes to St. Jean De Luz right next to the Spanish border. It is such a beautiful town that when we visited briefly a few years ago whilst staying in Biarritz we vowed to return. Having spent 4 days there I’d still happily return soon. From there we moved on the Béarn in the foothills of the Pyrenees to stay with a great friend, Vincent, who worked with Jeff as a teacher and is a frequent visitor and worker in Puimisson. I’d happily say that Jurançon’s dry wines are amongst my favourite white wines of all, alongside German Riesling and Burgundy, the fresh citrus streak of acidity supported by rich white fruits and a remote hint of honeyed sweetness.

This was more of a holiday than wine trip but whilst in the area it’s always good to try new wines from the region. I was helped a lot in St. Jean De Luz by the very good wine shop, Cave Notre Selection who pointed me towards good producers of the local Txakoli from just across the border such as Zudugarai, Izagirre and Gorrondona. traditionally Txakoli was made with unripe grapes and its spritzy acidity is refreshing in the heat of the Basque coastal area. However, modern producers such as these are attempting to add complexity with different grapes to the traditional Hondarrabi (Petit Courbu) and by making wines on lees, in barrels etc. I tried several examples and whilst I liked the modern styles I do have a fondness for the traditional uncompromising, low alcohol, spritzy versions too. There is a lot of information about Txakoli here.

Irouléguy is a wine region of the South West which has started to make some waves in recent times. It is inland from St. Jean in the foothills of the Pyrenees, north of Pamplona. The most famous producer is certainly Ilarria whose wines I have tasted before and very much enjoyed, particularly the white with its Petit Manseng and Petit Courbu similar to nearby Jurançon. However, the Ilarria wines carry a premium, a good 10 euros more than most other wines of the region. Notre Sélection pointed me to a new producer working organically with minimal sulfites, Goienetxea. The domaine was selling its grapes to other producers but made its own first wines in 2021 and it was one of those which I bought, Xingolei. Made from the difficult Tannat, famous in nearby Madiran and, more so, Uruguay these days, and, yes, here we go again, Cabernet Franc. Tannat is notoriously tannic and tough and the helpful young woman in the shop advised me to carafe the wine or put it away for a few years. And then still carafe! I did try a little from an open bottle and it was big, bold and powerful but there was plummy fruit showing through but it would definitely need help to show fully at this stage. One to watch.

It was a little disappointing that many of the bars and cafés offered me wines from all over France rather than their local region, especially given the evident pride in the Basque language and culture. Areas such as Madiran and Pacherenc du Vic Bilh were unseen, a real shame. Another trip is needed. One very good wine bar on the Ciboure side of the river was Maitenia, good Txakoli from Izagirre and well priced wines of interest from elsewhere, more of which in a future post.

I wrote about Jurançon in a previous post. As I said I love the white wines from this area and producers like Montesquiou, Larredya, Cauhapé and Lafitte are frequent purchases. I also enjoyed the wines from de Souch at the recent Dynamic Wines tasting. The Béarn is a beautiful region with its views of the snow capped Pyrenees, green hills, small villages and, fascinatingly, huge churches such as that in Monein, one of the wine centres. Many of the vines are trained on large wooden frames which piqued my interest. Presumably this helps to raise the grapes towards the sun in quite steep valleys.

Natural wines are making an impact in the region, for example. Montesquiou has switched to less and less use of sulfites and often eschews them altogether. Vincent recommended the wines of Domaine Lajibe, I shall look out for them. Vincent is also enthusiastic about a new producer, Vincent Glaizes of Les âmes heureuses à Monein, his first bottles will be coming out soon.

Two wines I can recommend were enjoyed in the excellent Ekaitza restaurant. Firstly a straightforward, enjoyable sweet / moelleux Jurançon called Plaisir d’Automne 21 from Le Clos Benguères but particularly the 2009 Cuvée Marie from Charles Hours. This domaine has rather slipped from its peak but this older bottle, in magnum, was beautiful and at its peak with mouthfilling yellow fruit flavours, fresh acidity underneath and great length. Magnums are becoming increasingly in demand in top restaurants and this showcased the reason why, ageing more gently than traditional 75cl. bottles.

I love the wines of this region for their diversity, unusual grapes and curiosity. I would love to return and do a wine exploration in depth, à la prochaine!