Domaine Castera Jurançon Sec Tauzy France 2021

• Name: Tauzy is the lieu-dit. It is named after the Pyrenees oak tree also called chêne tauzin.
• Size: 2.00 ha (4.94 ac)
• Variety: 60% Petit Manseng, 30% Petit Courbu, 10% Gros Manseng
• Vine Age: 1991 to 2012
• Terroir: Silty-clay and red clay soils with iron-rich gravels over Poudingue bedrock (see main write-up). East-facing, 5-27% slope at 300 to 350 meters altitude
• Viticulture: Organic (certified), biodynamic practices
• Winemaking: Pressed with whole clusters. Ambient yeast fermentation without added SO2. Aged in used demi-muids and barrels, sandstone eggs, and stainless steel tanks. Because of low pH's, malos are rare. No fining, light filtration. 40-60 ppm total SO2 at bottling.

https://www.beckywasserman.com/domaines/domaine-castera/

A while back, Pascaline Lepeltier posted on Instagram that if it weren’t for Chenin, her true love would be Manseng. She tagged the post #mansengmansengmanseng.

It’s not hyperbole. Manseng and Chenin are built like siblings, often with dizzying tartness and a phenolic core that sets them apart from other French whites. They excel whether vinified dry or sweet and one of the two Mansengs, Petit, has Savagnin as a parent in common with Chenin.

Jurançon is the only appellation almost solely and brilliantly devoted to Manseng. Its history for great dry whites, in yet a further parallel with Chenin, is contemporary, just like it is in Anjou Noir.

Franck Lihour is a relative newcomer—his first vintage was 2014. But in this short amount of time, he has lifted his family’s estate, Domaine Castera, into the pinnacle of Jurançon producers. His two single-vineyard bottlings, Tauzy (dry) and Caubeigt (off-dry), are two of the most energizing wines we represent.