2009 Lionel Osmin & Cie Jurançon Sec Cami Salié

Jurançon is an appellation nestled at the base of the Pyrenees in southwest France. Though little-known to many wine drinkers, Jurançon has produced distinctive white wines since at least the 14th century, and it was one of the first regions to earn a formal appellation when France organized its appellation system in the mid-1930s. Nearly all the wines here are made from Petit Manseng and Gross Manseng, and the wines are made in dry, sweet and very sweet styles. Regardless of their level of sweetness, all Jurançon wines have fruity aromas of passionfruit, mango and sometimes bananas. The late-harvest, sweeter wines also smell of vanilla. The wines generally taste of honeysuckle and tropical fruit. The late, legendary Loire Valley vigneron Didier Dagueneau was so fond of Jurançon that he made a Jurançon dessert wine he called The Gardens of Babylon. His son and a friend have continued to make this famous “Jardins de Babylone,” which captures the hedonistic essence of the appellation.