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THE WINE Jurançon is the wine region in the foothills of the Pyrenees mountains just southwest of Pau, on the left bank of the Gave de Pau/Ousse river which runs south of the city towards the Adour before flowing out to the Atlantic Ocean near Bayonne. The eponymous town (and commune) of Jurançon lies immediately across the Ousse from Pau. Grapes have been grown here since the 1400s. Today, Jurançon makes dry whites (Jurançon sec), sweet wines, and late-harvest sweet wines. Officially, Jurançon Sec must contain no more than four grams per liter (g/L) of sugar while Jurançon (sweet) must have a minimum residual sugar level of 40g/L and Jurançon Vendanges Tardives (Late-Harvest) a minimum of 55g/L. Natural sugar which remains in a wine after alcoholic fermentation is called residual sugar. Sugar is not added to the wine; the winemaker stops alcoholic fermentation when the residual sugars are at the proper levels. Jurançon wines have higher levels of acidity balancing the residual sugars of the intense golden-hued wines. Young wines have intensely floral and fruity aromas, while more aged wines can have aromas of gingerbread, dried fruits, and spices. These are lovely dessert wines. The prices for these wines are wide-ranging. Try this when you are looking for a special occasion wine. You can purchase these wines at many local shops, often in 375ml bottles (1/2 bottle) as well as, full-sized 750ml bottles.  Jurancon, 375ml. by Lisa Kolick THE RACE; Stage 5 As I said yesterday, today is a big climbing day. After relaxing yesterday, the riders took off from the start this morning. There was a large breakaway; 37 riders went up the road. It took a long time for that large group to split into 2 groups but remained 4+ minutes ahead of the peloton. At 22km left, the peloton had made up 2 minutes on the lead group. Pogacar and Vingegaard were in the second group all day, until 19 km to go, Vingegaard took off and Pogacar could not respond, he was out of the high-octane gas late in the today. The Col de Marie Blanque mountain climb blew apart the top of the race rankings. Vingegaard accelerated leaving Sepp Kuss (USA) and Pogacar behind. Vingegaard took off to close the distance with the chase group during the descent. Jai Hindley (AUS) remained ahead of Vingegaard’s group, and Hindley won the stage. The race standings changed substantially today.  Stage 5 Results. by LeTour Tomorrow will be another day of climbing in the Pyrenees. We will see who has legs to climb after stage 5. I will be writing about wine from Madiran wine region. ~ Sante  Profile of Stage 6. by LeTour Comments are closed.
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