Jurançon is a

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...

region in South West France in the foothills of the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to C ...

, around the ''commune'' of

Jurançon Jurançon (; oc, Juranson) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France. Population See also *Jurançon AOC, a wine from this commune *Communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department The followi ...

. It produces a dry white wine and a more sought after sweet white wine. The grape varieties used are

Gros Manseng Gros Manseng (sometimes translated: Large Manseng, rarely "Big Manseng") is a white wine grape variety that is grown primarily in South West France, and is part of the Manseng family. It produces dry wines in the Jurançon and Béarn regions o ...

Petit Manseng Petit Manseng (sometimes translated: Small Manseng, rarely "Little Manseng") is a white wine grape variety that is grown primarily in South West France. It produces the highest quality wine of any grape in the Manseng family. The name is deriv ...

and

Courbu Courbu is the name of three different, but related varieties of wine grapes primarily found in South West France. All are ''Vitis vinifera'' grapes. The name Courbu, without suffix, can refer to both Petit Courbu and Courbu blanc, and not all sou ...

. The sweet wines develop aromas of tropical fruit such as pineapple and mango. The vines are grown on steep mountain slopes and for the sweet wines the grapes are often hand selected well into October and November to ensure the best

noble rot Noble rot (french: pourriture noble; german: Edelfäule; it, Muffa nobile; hu, Aszúsodás) is the beneficial form of a grey fungus, ''Botrytis cinerea'', affecting wine grapes. Infestation by ''Botrytis'' requires moist conditions. If the we ...

characteristics - although Tim Wildman MW states that noble rot is not the origin of sweetness in these wines.

Cultural references and marketing

The white wine varieties of Manseng were a favorite of the French poet

Colette Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (; 28 January 1873 – 3 August 1954), known mononymously as Colette, was a French author and woman of letters. She was also a mime, actress, and journalist. Colette is best known in the English-speaking world for her ...

who called the wine ''séduction du vert galant'' and was quoted ''"I was a girl when I met this prince; aroused, imperious, treacherous, as all great seducers are."'' Winemakers in Jurançon picked up on this endorsement and began touting the wines (reputed) '' viril'' and ''puissant'' qualities in sales brochures and with posters that advertise ''"Manseng means Jurançon means

Sex Sex is the trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing animal or plant produces male or female gametes. Male plants and animals produce smaller mobile gametes (spermatozoa, sperm, pollen), while females produce larger ones (ova, oft ...

"''.J. Robinson ''Vines, Grapes & Wines'' pg 236 Mitchell Beazley 1986

References

External links

Vins Jurancon
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jurancon South West France AOCs