🍷 Jurançon

Jurançon is a sweet white wine from the Pyrenean foothills in south-west France, made from grapes dried on the vine. Jurançon is a sweet white wine from southwestern France, from the foothills of the Pyrenees. The name comes from the village of Jurançon near the city of Pau. Both sweet and dry wines are made here.

The sweet wine is made from grapes dried on the vine. This is called passerillage. The berries stay on the vine until late autumn and dry there, losing water and gaining sugar. They are picked by hand, often in November or later.

The main grape is Petit Manseng. It has small berries and high natural acidity. That is why even a very sweet wine stays fresh: it has notes of mango, pineapple, honey and spice.

Jurançon is an example of a French wine where sweetness comes not from mould or freezing but from drying on the vine. It is close to straw wine, but the berries are dried on the plant, not on straw.