Jurançon AOC

The steep hillside vineyards south of Pau in the Pyrenean foothills, producing distinctive dry (Jurançon Sec) and sweet (Jurançon moelleux) wines from Petit Manseng and Gros Manseng. The sweet Jurançon is made from late-harvest grapes concentrated by the foehn wind (a dry Alpine wind) — achieving tropical fruit sweetness without botrytis. Colette wrote of drinking Jurançon at Henri IV's baptism; Hemingway loved it. Henri Ramonteu at Domaine Cauhapé is the modern master.