Irouléguy

The wine

In the heart of the French Basque Country, the Irouléguy vineyard clings to the Pyrenean foothills in the historic province of Lower Navarre. AOC since 1970, it is one of France's smallest vineyards and the only one in the northern Basque Country, terraced between one hundred and sixty-six and eight hundred and ten metres of altitude on slopes sometimes so steep they defy mechanisation. The mountain oceanic climate, with twelve hundred millimetres of annual rainfall, shapes demanding altitude wines. The reds, structured and tannic, are built on Tannat backed by Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon; the whites, made from Petit Manseng, Gros Manseng, and Courbu, offer saline vivacity and aromas of candied citrus. Raised on red sandstone soils, they are the natural companions of Basque gastronomy: Bayonne ham, veal axoa, piperade, and of course Ossau-Iraty, the neighbouring sheep's cheese with which they share terroir and tradition.