Irouléguy AOC wines ( eu, Irulegi, ) come from

Lower Navarre Lower Navarre ( eu, Nafarroa Beherea/Baxenabarre; Gascon/Bearnese: ''Navarra Baisha''; french: Basse-Navarre ; es, Baja Navarra) is a traditional region of the present-day French ''département'' of Pyrénées-Atlantiques. It corresponds to the ...

in the

Northern Basque Country The French Basque Country, or Northern Basque Country ( eu, Iparralde (), french: Pays basque, es, País Vasco francés) is a region lying on the west of the French department of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques. Since 1 January 2017, it constitu ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and are usually considered as part of the wine region of South West France (''Sud-Ouest''). They are named after the village of

Irouléguy Irouléguy (; eu, Irulegi) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France. It is located in the former province of Lower Navarre. It is mainly known for the Irouléguy AOC wine which is grown on the vineyard ...

and are the only wines with

AOC Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (; ; born October 13, 1989), also known by her initials AOC, is an American politician and activist. She has served as the U.S. representative for New York's 14th congressional district since 2019, as a member of ...

certification in the Northern Basque Country. Irouléguy wines are often referred to as coming from "the smallest vineyard in France, the biggest in the Northern Basque Country". Currently about 550,000 litres are produced annually, with about 70% of production being red wines, 20%

rosé A rosé () is a type of wine that incorporates some of the color from the grape skins, but not enough to qualify it as a red wine. It may be the oldest known type of wine, as it is the most straightforward to make with the skin contact method ...

and 10% white.

History

The history of wine-making in the area goes back to at least the 3rd century when the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

commented on wine-making in the area. It was boosted by monks of the Abbey of

Roncesvalles Roncesvalles ( , ; eu, Orreaga ; an, Ronzesbals ; french: Roncevaux ) is a small village and municipality in Navarre, northern Spain. It is situated on the small river Urrobi at an altitude of some in the Pyrenees, about from the French bor ...

in the 11th century who planted the first large scale vineyards to provide wine for pilgrims travelling along the

Way of St James The Camino de Santiago ( la, Peregrinatio Compostellana, "Pilgrimage of Compostela"; gl, O Camiño de Santiago), known in English as the Way of St James, is a network of pilgrims' ways or pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the apostle Saint ...

.Facaros, D & Pauls, M ''Bilbao and the Basque Lands'' Cadoganguides 2003 Following the

Treaty of the Pyrenees The Treaty of the Pyrenees (french: Traité des Pyrénées; es, Tratado de los Pirineos; ca, Tractat dels Pirineus) was signed on 7 November 1659 on Pheasant Island, and ended the Franco-Spanish War that had begun in 1635. Negotiations were ...

in 1659, the monks had to give up wine-making and the vineyards which were taken over by the local villagers. During its peak in the 17th century, the Irouléguy vineyards comprised some 500 ha of cultivated land. The production of wine had been boosted considerably by the then Viscount of Urdos who encouraged the locals to grow grapes even on the steep slopes. The 18th century saw relatively high levels of employment in the area due to increased mining activity, further boosting the consumption and thus production of local wine. But the following period was marked by constant decline and the vineyards were hit hard by the

Great French Wine Blight The Great French Wine Blight was a severe blight of the mid-19th century that destroyed many of the vineyards in France and laid waste to the wine industry. It was caused by an aphid that originated in North America and was carried across the A ...

in 1912 and by the 1980s, only some 70ha were still in cultivation. A

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-contro ...

was formed in 1952 under the lead of Alexander Bergouignan to rescue the situation and to work towards certification. The wines of Baigorri, Anhauze and

were awarded AOVDQS certification in 1953 and Irouléguy was granted AOC status in October 1970. Today, some 210ha of land are cultivated again in the area. Prior to AOC certification, a much larger number of varieties were grown, including ''Kroxenta'', ''Pikapota'', ''Kamalua'', ''Mantzinga'', ''Bordalesa'', ''Erre Mantxaua'' and ''Pino beltza''.

Location

Of the 15 wine-growing municipalities in the Irouléguy region, only the following nine grow Irouléguy vines on a total of 210ha:

Anhaux Anhaux ()ANHAUZE
Saint-Étienne-de-Baïgorry Saint-Étienne-de-Baïgorry (; eu, Baigorri)BAIGORRI
Ascarat Ascarat ()AZKARATE

, Bidarrai,

Ispoure Ispoure (; eu, Izpura) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France. It is located in the former province of Lower Navarre and historically has a high percentage of inhabitants of Cascarot descent.Alford, V ...

, Jaxu and

Saint-Martin-d'Arrossa Saint-Martin-d'Arrossa (; eu, Arrosa)ARROSA

Aincille Aincille (; eu, Aintzilla)Jean-Baptiste Orpustan, ''New Basque Toponymy'' Presses universitaires de Bordeaux, 2006, *Raymond:'Topographic Dictionary of the Department of Basses-Pyrenees'' 1863, on the page numbers indicated in the table.

, Bussunarits-Sarrasquette, Bustince-Iriberry,

Lasse Lasse is a common masculine given name in Nordic countries. It is also often a nickname for people named Lars or Lauri. People Notable people named Lasse include: * Lasse Aasland (1926–2001), Norwegian politician *Lasse Åberg (born 1940), S ...

, Lecumberry,

Ossès Ossès (; eu, Ortzaize)ORTZAIZE

Saint-Jean-le-Vieux) grow other vines. The vineyards are often located on extremely steep slopes with inclines of up to 60°. This has led to the development of special growing and terracing techniques by Basque wine-growers to enable the cultivation of vines on these slopes.

Wine

Red grape varieties include ''Bordelesa Beltza'' (

Tannat Tannat is a red wine grape, historically grown in South West France in the Madiran AOC, and is now one of the most prominent grapes in Uruguay, where it is considered the "national grape". Tannat is also grown in Argentina, Australia, Brazi ...

), ''Axeria'' (

Cabernet Franc Cabernet Franc is one of the major black grape varieties worldwide. It is principally grown for blending with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the Bordeaux style, but can also be vinified alone, as in the Loire's Chinon. In addition to being u ...

) and ''Axeria Handia'' (

Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Sauvignon () is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Lebanon ...

), while white wines are made from ''Xuri Zerratia'' (

Courbu Courbu is the name of three different, but related varieties of wine grapes primarily found in South West France. All are ''Vitis vinifera'' grapes. The name Courbu, without suffix, can refer to both Petit Courbu and Courbu blanc, and not all sou ...

), ''Izkiriota Ttipia'' (

Petit Manseng Petit Manseng (sometimes translated: Small Manseng, rarely "Little Manseng") is a white wine grape variety that is grown primarily in South West France. It produces the highest quality wine of any grape in the Manseng family. The name is deriv ...

) and ''Izkiriota'' (

Gros Manseng Gros Manseng (sometimes translated: Large Manseng, rarely "Big Manseng") is a white wine grape variety that is grown primarily in South West France, and is part of the Manseng family. It produces dry wines in the Jurançon and Béarn regions ...

).Stevenson, Tom, The Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia, Dorling Kindersley 2005 Garaizabal Pildain, M. ''Euskal Herriko Ardoak'' Ardoxka Gastronomi Elkartea 2002 They are cultivated on terraces between 100-400 m above sea-level and although the soils vary, one of the chief characteristics of the soils in the region is a deep red coloration. This fact is mirrored in the name of the nearby town of Baigorri which is a contraction of ''bailara gorri'' "red terrace".

References

External links

Cave d'Irouléguy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Irouleguy AOC South West France AOCs Basque cuisine sv:Irouléguy

History

Location

Wine

See also

References

Further reading

External links