2007 Charles Hours "Cuvée Marie" Jurancon Sec

Wines from Jurancon (a region located in southwestern France) have been celebrated since the middle ages. A drop of Jurancon moelleux is said to have moistened the lips of the infant Henry IX at his baptism in 1553. And the French poet Colette was an ardent admirer of the wines, writing "When I was a teenager, I met a prince, imperious traitor, like any great seducer: the Jurancon." Charles Hours on his Clos Uroulat estate makes only two wines, and they are both outstanding. The dry "Cuvee Marie" is comprised of 90% gros manseng along with 10% Courbu. The grapes are grown on soil composed of layers of chalk, clay and pebbles. The grapes are manually harvested, gently crushed, and transferred by gravity to oak barrels, 10% of which are new. This is a wonderfully rich and concentrated wine, with good balancing acidity to boot. The great English wine writer James Turnbull writes: "It represents great quality at a fraction of the price of a Meursault or a Pessac-Leognan." (Fine French Wines)