Why Jurançon Sec Is Having a Moment With Somms — Plus 4 Producers To Try
One of the most common conversations a sommelier has with guests include the words “a dry white.” After a little nudging, terms like Sancerre and Chablis might be deployed, as well as “mineral” or “crisp.”
These “dry white” conversations can go two ways. Either a guest is looking for something familiar, as close to what they normally drink as possible, or they’re open to something new and need help selecting.
The latter is an opportunity for a sommelier to flex. They might have a Portuguese field blend tucked away, or a snappy own-rooted Canary Islands wine, or maybe they’ve been crushing on an obscure Italian grape lately. Most of the white wines featured in pairings for tasting menus are pulled from this broad category of uncommon and affordably-priced dry wine.
That’s where the dry or “sec” wines from the little-known appellation Jurançon in the southwest of France fit. Made with local grape varieties Petit Manseng and Gros Manseng, these wines typically offer bright acidity, a rounded texture, vibrant notes of tropical fruits and roasted nuts, and a distinct salinity. While they have little to no name recognition with most drinkers, sommeliers appreciate these wines for the incredible value they offer, frequently over-delivering on flavor and complexity for the price.
For wine consumers, Jurançon Sec offers just enough nuance to appeal to the curious drinker without scaring off those who tend to stay in the dry-white-from-France lane. As wine prices skyrocket and drinkers look for value, sommeliers are looking to regions like Jurançon to fill gaps on their lists. So with its popularity on the rise, it’s time to get to know Jurançon Sec.
Sweet Beginnings
Jurançon is a remote French region in the Pyrenees mountains located eight hours south of Paris close to the Spanish border. Romans were the first to discover the winemaking potential of these steep hillsides which later became part of the historic Viscounty of Béarn within the massive Duchy of Aquitaine in 819.
Béarnaise cuisine includes elements found in neighboring basque country and Gascony: rich, fatty proteins like duck and pork dominate alongside sheep’s milk cheeses. This is a lush region that sees around 47 inches of rainfall annually. Grape cultivation is possible because of the dry foehn winds that rush down the mountains.
Jurançon is a magical, bucolic place where sheep graze on hillsides and vignerons tend amphitheater-like vineyards 1,300 feet in the sky. With fewer than 2,500 acres under vine, it’s half the size of other petite wine regions like Jura or Savoie, and it produces far less wine annually, much of which is dessert wine.
“The Jurançon is something I’m really excited about. As a new importer in the space, regions like the Jura and the Loire are oversubscribed, and to me, the Jurançon wines deliver the same qualities, but turbocharged: minerality, acidity, ripeness, texture, it’s all there.”
The combination of elevation, sun exposure, and dry wind along with an oceanic climate made Jurançon home to a unique high-acid, tropical-fruited dessert wine made from the passerillage method. Unlike the fungus-affected wines of Sauternes two hours north, the grapes in Jurançon stay dry and shrivel in the sun over time losing moisture and concentrating the sugars. Jurançon developed as a wine region to produce these rare dessert wines. The Béarnaise king of France, Henry IV was said to have been anointed with drops of sweet Jurançon at his baptism in 1554.
Its early success as a dessert wine region stymied the production of dry wines. The Jurançon AOC did not recognize sec wines until 1975, and even then it was arguably to protect sweet wine production. In recent years, the fight to stay relevant in a market dominated by dry wine means that Jurançon has finally shifted to producing more dry wine than ever before. As more Jurançon Sec wines become available, these bottles are uniquely positioned to provide great value on wine lists.
The Grapes of Jurançon
Not only has Jurançon been hindered by its past as a sweet wine region — not to mention its incredibly small size and remote location — but it also can’t claim any famous grapes like Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc. Though they aren’t a selling point for most consumers, the unusually-named native grapes of Jurançon are still worth getting to know.
Petit Manseng is the most noble grape of the region and is responsible for the best dessert wine production. Reminiscent of the high acidity, ripe apple notes, and savory minerality present in Chenin Blanc, the fruit profile of Petit Manseng leans more tropical. Common aromas include pineapple and mango. Petit Manseng is capable of reaching high sugar levels, which means dry wines possess ripe flavors and high alcohol around 14 percent.
Another indigenous grape for the region, Gros Manseng also possesses blistering acidity, as well as light floral and citrus aromas. It’s used in sweet wine production when blended with Petit Manseng, and appears in most dry wines.
Petit Courbu and Gros Courbu are permitted as blending grapes in Jurançon Sec wines. They’re better known for their basque names Hondarrabi Zuri Zerratia and Hondarrabi Zuri and are included in small amounts to balance alcohol content. Camaralet is the rarest of the bunch, and has nearly gone extinct. It’s known for being strongly scented and difficult to grow.
A Sommelier’s Secret Weapon
If you’ve read this far, you know that there is just too little wine and too many Mansengs for Jurançon to ever become a mainstream region like Burgundy or Bordeaux. Nonetheless, it has a loyal following among wine professionals that’s recently started to grow. Whether it’s because there are more dry Jurançon Sec wines available than in the past, or because comparable options have gotten too expensive, sommeliers in 2026 are singing the praises of these fruit-forward, complex, acid-bomb wines.
Miami-based sommelier and consultant, Ray Sholes added a Jurançon Sec to the last wine list he made for Michael’s Genuine, an upscale tavern in Miami’s design district. “I usually sell it to people looking for really bright acidity, and I might equate it to Sauvignon Blanc,” Sholes explains, referencing Bordeaux Blanc, the full-bodied still wines made from Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon from the far better-known southwestern French region.
“It was something I had to offer by the bottle… something that I had to push… it’s a tough wine for people to wrap their heads around at first, but once they taste it, they’re like ‘Oh my gosh this is absolutely delicious,’” Sholes adds.
“There’s a lot of value in southwest France that’s overlooked,” says JT Garczyński, a sommelier and partner at Maxwell Park, a Washington, D.C. wine bar that offers a monthly themed menu of 50 different wines by the glass.
“We pride ourselves on never repeating a wine,” Garczyński explains before adding that he has included three Jurançon Sec wines in menus over the last five years. “They’re definitely a favorite!”
Eitan Spivak, beverage director at NYC’s acclaimed Caribbean fine dining restaurant Kabawa, compares Petit Manseng to Riesling and pours Jurançon Sec in tasting menus often. “A lot of the flavors in the Caribbean cooking that we work with are aromatically intense and loud, and Jurançon can match that intensity,” Spivak explains. “It’s a wine that does really well with spice,” he adds, crediting the complex fruit notes, both tropical and stone fruit. Technically Jurançon Sec wines should not have more than 4 g/L of sugar, but they often taste like they have a touch more and it helps with food pairing.
Spivak mentions another reason he’s more likely to include a Jurançon Sec than a GG Riesling in a beverage pairing in 2026, “We’re in an affordability crisis in the world of wine and these big name regions are no longer affordable. A wine like Jurançon is under the radar, but wine lovers understand its quality and how food friendly it is right away.” Spivak is not alone in this opinion — these wines can be found on great wine lists across NYC from bars like Chinatown’s Lei and Liar Liar in Gowanus to hot restaurants Penny, Crevette, Somssi, and beyond.
“It was something I had to offer by the bottle… something that I had to push… it’s a tough wine for people to wrap their heads around at first, but once they taste it, they’re like ‘Oh my gosh this is absolutely delicious,’”
As interest rises in these wines, importers are flagging down more quality bottles to sell stateside. Bryan Garcia, owner of New York-based import company Corkhoarder works with the well-regarded estate Domaine Castéra. Garcia has noted an increased interest in the wines recently, and this year he is adding another producer from Jurançon to his portfolio, the sought-after wines of Domaine Lajibe, which were previously only available in California.
Tom Stelle, owner of upstart wine importer Stelle Wine Co., has similarly noticed an increased interest in the wines of Jurançon. He found that consumers seeking complex, textured white wines were looking to regions like Burgundy, the Loire, and the Jura, but prices for these bottles are soaring out of the average wine drinker’s price range.
“The Jurançon is something I’m really excited about,” Stelle says. “As a new importer in the space, regions like the Jura and the Loire are oversubscribed, and to me, the Jurançon wines deliver the same qualities, but turbocharged: minerality, acidity, ripeness, texture, it’s all there.”
Stelle first started importing the wines of Domaine de l’Apollin from winemaker Florent Foury earlier this year, and is hoping to add more producers from the region to his book. So far, the response has been incredible. “Value. That’s what people are looking for right now,” he says, mentioning that while there’s still a rabid demand for high-end Burgundy, the interest he’s seeing in Jurançon from sommeliers has been unmatched.
Between the quality, value, and increase in the number of producers imported across the U.S., it’s a great time to discover the dry wines of Jurançon. Here are four bottles to get you started on your journey.
Bottles to Try
Clos Guirouilh Jurançon Sec 2021
Recommended by JT Garczyński at Maxwell Park, the Jurançon Sec from Clos Guirouilh is made of Gros Manseng balanced with Petit Courbu, vinified in stainless steel. With 40-year-old vines planted at high elevation, this wine brings concentrated notes of ripe apples, honey, green herbs, and guava. This domain has been producing wine since the 16th century and they seem to have a long view of time; wines are cellar aged for extended time before release.
Average price: $30
Domaine Castéra Jurançon Sec Tauzy 2022
Kabawa’s Eitan Spivak loves the dry wines made by Franck Lihour at Domaine Castéra. Lihour took over his family’s centuries-old estate in 2014 after making wine in Bordeaux, Burgundy, California, and Corsica among other places including the beloved Jurançon house, Clos Joliette. “Tauzy” is the winery’s flagship bottle, made with a blend of Petit Manseng, Petit Courbu, and Gros Manseng from a small lieu-dit on the property in the foothills of the Pyrenees. It’s a structured, mineral-driven take on Jurançon Sec with bright aromatics, juicy citrus notes, and a rich, rounded finish.
Average price: $50
Clos Uroulat ‘Cuvée Marie’ 2021
Charles Hours took over Clos Uroulat in 1983 though the domain dates back to the 1700s. Today his daughter Marie is the primary winemaker, though the name Charles Hours is still synonymous with the house. Clos Uroulat’s ‘Cuvée Marie’ is one of the most accessible, quality Jurançon Sec wines. It’s made from Gros Manseng aged in neutral oak and delivers bright notes of green apple, lemon zest, and saline.
Average price: $25
Domaine Bellegarde ‘La Pierre Blanche’ 2024
Another favorite among sommeliers, Domaine Bellegarde’s winemaker Pascal Labasse has been producing dry Jurançon for more than 40 years. The La Pierre Blanche cuvée is mostly Petit Manseng with some Gros Manseng aged in demi-muids. It’s rich and full-bodied with delightful notes of lemon curd and roasted hazelnuts, ideal for food pairing.
Average price: $30
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