Béarn

France · AOC (PDO) · Toulouse-Pyrenees

Styles

Natural factors

The production area covers 74 communes spread across three distinct sectors: a western zone around Salies-de-Béarn and Bellocq, a zone to the south and west of Pau, and a north-eastern zone in a bend of the Adour.
The rocks forming the relief consist principally of continental sediments from the Tertiary period (molasse, marl, limestone, clay, Sables Fauves, and gravel sheets) and occasionally marine sediments from the Secondary period (flysch), overlain on the plateaux by Quaternary aeolian silts.
The soils, mostly leached and acidic, generally show good capacity for drainage and heat retention thanks to their variable stoniness (gravels, pebbles, flysch).
The humid oceanic climate delivers between 1,000 mm of rainfall per year in the north and 1,300 mm in the west, with a drier period in summer and early autumn during which a warm, dry southerly wind of foehn type blows preferentially (one day in three).

Human factors

As early as the sixteenth century, the white vine varieties comprised principally Petit Manseng, Gros Manseng, Arrufiac, and Courbu, to which Raffiat de Moncade was added — a variety used exclusively within the Béarn appellation.
Exports to the Netherlands, active from the mid-fourteenth century via the port of Bayonne, continued through to the nineteenth century thanks to Béarnais Protestants who had settled in northern Europe. (via Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0)

Product characteristics

The red wines have good tannic potential, with fruity aromas that can develop greater complexity with ageing.
The rosé wines, fresh and supple, are characterised by notes of small red fruits and citrus, in a colour ranging from pale pink to a deeper rose.

Terroir / wine link

The warm, dry southerly wind blowing during the ripening period offsets the region's overall humidity and promotes the health of the grapes at harvest.

Facts drawn from the cahier's terroir-link section (Lien au terroir) by automatic interpretation — see the source.