This month our  French Winophiles  blogging group takes a virtual trip to the lesser known  French side of the Basque region where the Pyrenees Mountains form the natural border between France and Spain.

While the Spanish side is well-known (it has the highest per capita concentration of Michelin star restaurants in the world), the French offers a stark contrast of picturesque towns, and farms  isolated by the Pyrenees. It’s claim to fame is that it offers starting points for the Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage from France to Spain. It is also where you will find the wines of Irouléguy (ee-RHOO-lay-ghee), the only wine truly from the French Basque region. It’s a small region that is about as far south in France as it is possible to go before crossing the Pyrenees into Spain.

Since the wines can be difficult to find, we’re expanding our focus a bit for this month to include the Jurançon region.

Like  Irouléguy, Jurançon a sub-region of the larger South-West wine region.  Not only are the two regions part of the network of appellations found in the large South-West wine region, the white wines are made from the same grape varieties –  Gros manseng, Petit manseng and Petit courbu, as in Jurançon.  The region produces both sweet and dry white wines (Jurançon and Jurançon Sec, respectively).

The Wine

The 2016 Domaine Cauhapé Jurançon Sec Chant Des Vignes is a blend of 60% Gros Manseng and 40% Camaralet de Lasseube.  The grapes were crushed and destemmed, then macerated on skins for 12 hours before pressing.  Thereafter it was cool-fermented in stainless steel and matured on lees for 5 months.

Color – Pale yellow with green hue
Aromas – Quince, cantaloupe, apricot confit, lemon, with hints of fennel,white pepper and wet stone
Body – Medium bodied, with very fresh mouth-watering  tangy acidity and a very appealing waxy texture
Taste – Apricot, lemon, quince, and golden apple with melon flavors nicely accented a wet stone minerality and a hint of herbaceousness
Finish – Medium

13.5% abv|SRP – $14|89pts

This wine offers wonderful value.  We’ve already ordered more!

The Wine and Food Pairing

As serendipity would have it, we received an Instant Pot that had been on back-order for some time, the same day that I capitalized on a BOGO for 2lb. bags of frozen raw shrimp, and I’d picked up the aforementioned wine a day or two before. Anxious to take the Instant Pot for a spin, I googled “Instant Pot + shrimp”.  At the top of the search results was an Instant Pot Shrimp Boil from Damn Delicious.

The food and wine universe had spoken to me!  I listened.

The recipe turned out great ( it was my first time using an Instant Pot). The Shrimp Boil was well…damn delicious, and came together fairly easily and quickly.  It’s definitely a keeper in my book and I’ll be making it again.

As for the pairing, it was a match made in heaven!  The wine’s vibrant, tangy acidity cut though the spiced butter slathered vegetables and shrimp, it’s waxy texture and weight were complemented the “weight” of the Shrimp Boil, and its herbaceous notes worked very well with the spices in the dish.

Be sure to check out what my fellow French Winophiles discovered during their French Basque region exploration:

• Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla shares “A Geography Snafu + Poulet Basquaise with Domaine Illaria Irouleguy 2016”
• Robin of Crushed Grape Chronicles shares “French Poets, Philandering Kings and little sweetness from Jurançon“
• Jane at Always Ravenous shares “French Basque Rosé Paired with Sicilian Pasta“
• Oliver at In Taste Buds We Trust shares “Domaine Brana : Showing the Way in Irouléguy”
• Cynthia and Pierre at Traveling Wine Profs share “Celebrating the Revival of Irouléguy“
• Gwen from Wine Predator shares “Madiran: French Basque Wine of Pyrenees With Pixtos“
• Payal at Keep the Peas shares “Basque-ing in Irouléguy Wines and More”
• Jeff at Food Wine Click! shares “Basque Chicken and Irouléguy, Perfect Winter Dish on the Hottest Day of the Summer”

And if you’re up early enough, please join our chat on Twitter on 17 August at 8am PDT. Just search for the hashtag: #Winophiles. 

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