Charles Hours Jurancon Sec Cuvee Marie

Charles Hours' Jurançon Sec Cuvée Marie is a dry white from the Jurançon appellation in southwest France, where vineyards climb the foothills of the Pyrénées Mountains in a cool, hilly microclimate that has produced wine since the Middle Ages. Hours works primarily with Gros Manseng, the region's signature white varietal, alongside a touch of Courbu, both grown on clay soils layered with chalk, flint, and gravel washed down from the peaks above. The wine ferments for up to twenty days in barrel and ages ten months on the lees, with five to ten percent new oak, before filtration and bottling. This is textbook Jurançon Sec: floral, mineral, dry, and built with enough mid-palate weight to handle richer preparations than most linear whites from northern France. Charles Hours tends a seven-acre estate with southeast exposure, farming sustainably and organically in a region where hand labor is still the rule. The Gros Manseng and Courbu are harvested manually in successive passes as each block reaches ripeness, then pressed immediately in a pneumatic press to avoid skin contact and preserve the wine's clarity and lifted aromatics. Hours is a fixture in Lincoln Park wine circles for good reason—his work represents the archetype of what Jurançon can be when a grower respects the terroir and doesn't overwork the wine. The flint and chalk in the vineyard soils translate directly to the glass, giving Cuvée Marie a stony backbone that anchors the floral top notes. The wine is expressive and mineral-driven, with white flowers, orchard fruit, and a saline finish that speaks to the limestone and the altitude. It has more body than a typical Muscadet or Albariño, so it pairs well with richer fish—grilled trout, seared scallops, anything with brown butter—and holds up to poultry and lighter pork preparations. It also works beautifully with soft cheeses from the neighboring Basque country, especially sheep's milk varieties like Ossau-Iraty. Serve it cool but not cold; fifteen minutes out of the fridge opens up the mid-palate. Charles Hours Jurançon Sec Cuvée Marie is available now at Off Premise in Lincoln Park for pickup at 1128 W Armitage Ave, local Chicago delivery, or nationwide shipping.