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Tasting Time Travel: 1998 Clos Thou Jurançon Petite Manseng Passerillage
After a sunrise breakfast of local cheeses and stone fruits at Clos Mirabel, we set off on a dreamy four-kilometer walk through the French countryside. The road was narrow and winding, lined with sleepy vineyards, bleating donkeys, crowing roosters, and homes nestled in the folds of the hills. Our destination? Clos Thou, a family-owned domaine that has quietly carried on the traditions of Jurançon winemaking for over a century. The patriarch, now 91, recalls the old stone press being there when he was just a baby.
Clos Thou, like many producers in Jurançon — a region tucked just outside Pau in the shadow of the snow-capped Pyrenees — focuses primarily on Petite Manseng. This grape thrives in the region’s limestone and clay soils, bolstered by a “pudding” of loose rocks that promote exceptional drainage. The vineyards are perched on steep southeast-facing slopes, spaced to encourage airflow — an essential detail for passerillage, the process of drying grapes on the vine to concentrate sugars and preserve acidity.
