Grin & Barrère it

Barrère “Clos de la Vierge” 2009 Jurançon Sec (Southwest France) – Mineral-infused wax, hard panes of glassy structure, secretive greenish-white forest fruit. A really intriguing wine, faceted and somewhat mysterious. (7/11)

Happy cow

Ramonteu “Domaine Cauhapé” 2001 Jurançon “Nobelsse du Temps” (Southwest France) – Purchased at the winery, and showing precious little development since that time. Alas, opening this now was a regrettable error in back-of-the-cellar archaeology; I’d meant to grab one of the earlier-picked sweet wines, laid my hands on this, and didn’t notice the mistake until…cork 75% out of the bottle…I realized that there was no back label. Rescue was probably still possible, but at that point I decided to just go with it. It tastes, as it did when I bought it, of a proto-Sauternes-like wine as much as a Jurançon, with a lot of apricottish texture, honey, and woodspice enveloping the more geographically-specific and brighter fruit at the core. Balanced, incredibly pure, and surprisingly delicate given the intensity of the components. A beautiful wine that will, alas, not see the full duration of its life in my cellar. (2/11)

Bottom heavy

Labasse “Domaine Bellegarde” 2006 Jurançon Sec “La Pierre Blanche” (Southwest France) – Stealthy. An innocuous, bony-white frame sits there in full view, not doing much of note, while a much more texturally interesting patina of old rocks and leathery fruit sneaks up from behind. But if you turn to stare at the patina, it’s gone…only to reappear moments later, coating something else just out of view. A really interesting wine that plays an amusing game of elusiveness. (1/11)

Moe, Larrieu, & Curlycue

Larrieu “Clos Lapeyre” 2005 Jurançon Moelleux “La Magendia” (Southwest France) – Ripe, sweet, and pure. Lemon and apple paired, with a heart of cool alpine valley sunshine and little drizzlings of fresh acidity over the top. Pretty. (7/09)

Lend me your Barrère

Barrère “Clos de la Vierge” 2005 Jurançon Sec (Southwest France) – Beeswax, sand, dried pineapple bereft of all its sweetness, and beige minerality left naked by a great transparency of fruit. There’s some summer sweat, as well, but mostly the wine stands, stark and silent, waiting. Ready? Nowhere near? Wines like this are so deceptive. (3/09)

Virgin secs

Barrère “Clos de la Vierge” 2005 Jurançon Sec (Southwest France) – Intense summer vegetables, green and complex, with piercing acidity and a narrow, planar texture. It seems to possess an inner chill, as if it were turning to ice from the inside out, yet the solidity stays just underneath the surface of consumption. (8/08)

Virgin manseng

Barrère "Clos de la Vierge" 2005 Jurançon Sec (Southwest France) – Herbal with a post-rainstorm, humid, sweaty character and an acrid, biting acidity; it all works beautifully, but it’s not a wine you want to serve to New World chardonnay types. A wine in 7/8; not danceable, but forcing you to listen carefully, after which the pulse eventually permeates. (5/08)

Gregorian Chant

Ramonteu “Domaine Cauhapé” 2005 Jurançon Sec “Chant des Vignes” (Southwest France) – Mountain minerals and dried thyme, white-out fruit with a dominant foundation of dirt, light but insistent presence, and a fine, very precise and almost rigid finish. This isn’t a particularly expressive wine, but it more than makes up for it with striking confidence. (5/08)

Just a sec

Ramonteu “Domaine Cauhapé” 2005 Jurançon Sec “Chants des Vignes” (Southwest France) – Gros manseng in stainless steel, with six months of lees contact. Grass and bitter almond dominate, with pine nut and pineapple lurking. The structure is firmly acid-based, and takes the form of a tsunami of green apple. Long, crisp, and quite nice. I don’t know if I’d call it refreshing, exactly…it’s a little too razor-like for that…but what it lacks in gulpability it makes up for with low-key complexity. (10/06)

Ramonteu “Domaine Cauhapé” 2004 Jurançon Sec “Sève d’Automne” (Southwest France) – Gros manseng, picked at the end of October and aged sur lie in wood. Riper, with a lightly yeast-driven nose and a papery texture. A full-bodied palate of walnut- and pecan-like bitterness draws a contrast with huge minerality and an overwhelming “wetness.” This has an appealing drinkability the Chant des Vignes lacks, though it also carries a bit of baggage: some light woody tones to the finish. It’s a “better” wine, but I prefer the lighter cuvée. That might change with age, however. (10/06)

Ramonteu “Domaine Cauhapé” 2005 Jurançon Sec “La Canopée” (Southwest France) – Petit manseng, drying on the vine, fermented in barrique with batonnage, and aged sur lie for ten months. Much woodier, with bitter almond extract persisting but this time paired with ripe citrus. The wine seems almost salty with minerality. Very long. All that said, at this point, the wine’s mostly structure. Interestingly, the domaine suggests less than half the suggested cellar time for this bottling than for the Sève d’Automne (6 vs. 15 years). (10/06)

Calendar girl

Ramonteu “Domaine Cauhapé” 2004 Jurançon “Ballet d’Octobre” (Southwest France) – Gros manseng, picked very ripe at the end of October, and fermented in slightly older wood. This is meant to be the early-drinking entry in the sweet lineup, which is demonstrated by the lightness and balance of the wine; “ballet” is an excellent name. There’s sweet apple and sugared walnut, some of that unmistakable almond, and crystallized peach skin (both fruity and texturally bitter). Long, fresh, and clean. (10/06)

Ramonteu “Domaine Cauhapé” 2004 Jurançon “Symphonie de Novembre” (Southwest France) – A first pass at petit manseng picked in the early weeks of November, fermented in a mixture of new and two-year wood, than given an additional nine months in wood, plus another six months in tank. Concentrated peach and pear with a healthy layer of spice, apple, and even some clementine. Very rich, but with fine acidity preserved throughout. Lovely. (10/06)

Ramonteu “Domaine Cauhapé” 2001 Jurançon “Noblesse du Temps” (Southwest France) – Dried-on-the-vine petit manseng, picked after the first frost and in multiple passes from late November through early December, vinified in new wood and spending an additional eighteen months in wood (I think not new, but our host isn’t clear). Spiced honey – said spices being mostly cinnamon and nutmeg, both in a rich, freshly-baked form – with an apple-tang edge to a fruit syrup palate that’s energized by firm acidity. There’s a bit of caramel at the tail. A beautiful wine. (10/06)

Ramonteu “Domaine Cauhapé” 2000 Jurançon “Quintessence de Petit Manseng (Southwest France) – Petit manseng (of course), picked in multiple passes in the latter half of December, from grapes well past mere passerillage or normal icing and into an advanced state of shriveling and water loss. Fermented in barrique and aged for two years more (not sure in what). Absolutely noble, with incredible density. Peach essence, apricot, orange marmalade, and bursts of flowers. This explodes with character. Texturally, it’s lusciously creamy, but still with a backbone of acidity for support. The finish is all honey, fresh cream, and nut oil, and it’s long, long, long. Majestic. (10/06)

Juscle a little Jurançon

Vigneau la Juscle Jurançon Moelleux (Southwest France) – There’s no vintage listed, nor is there a specific cuvee indicated, and I don’t even get to see the bottle…not that it really matters. For all I know, this isn’t even Jurançon, though it tastes like it might be. It tastes of light apricot and peanut, faint but clean, and the effect is more refreshing than luscious. It’s not worth a second look, but it serves its current purpose quite nicely. (10/06)

Vapor Barrère

Barrère "Clos de la Vierge" 2005 Jurançon Sec (Southwest France) – Very crisp, but the acidity has a refinement and place to it, and the rest of the wine exists in service to it…yet the wine is not dominated by its acidity. It’s hard to describe, I guess. There’s a beautiful, washed-granite starkness to this, and yet the palate is full of rocky generosity, with little alpine flowers clinging to the rock face. Long, exquisitely poised, and rather breathtaking. (12/07)