Petit-Manseng Grape variety guide: history, French regions, taste & food pairing
Petit Manseng is a small-berried white grape from the foothills of the French Pyrenees, celebrated for luscious, high-acid sweet wines from Jurançon and for intense, aromatic dry whites.
Learn more about Petit-Manseng
History & origins
Petit Manseng is native to Béarn and the Basque Country. Its tiny, thick-skinned berries are left on the vine into late autumn and even winter to shrivel and concentrate (passerillage). Legend says that at the 1553 baptism of the future King Henri IV in Pau, his lips were rubbed with garlic and a drop of Jurançon. Today it is also planted in Languedoc, Bordeaux (as a climate-adaptation grape) and Virginia.
French regions & appellations
Jurançon and Jurançon Sec AOC, Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh, Béarn, Irouléguy and IGP Côtes de Gascogne.
Taste profile
Exotic and intense, with pineapple, mango, passion fruit, candied citrus, quince, honey and spice, balanced by striking acidity that keeps even sweet styles fresh.
Food pairing
Foie gras, blue cheese and Ossau-Iraty, spicy Asian cuisine, roast poultry with fruit, tarte Tatin and mango or pineapple desserts.
Where Petit-Manseng grows in France
Wine regions: Sud-Ouest
Appellations: Côtes de Gascogne, Jurançon