From the atlas
Clos Lapeyre
At A Glance
Clos Lapeyre is a Jurançon estate in southwest France, built around the native Petit Manseng and Gros Manseng grapes. Its terraced, south-facing vines sit at 350 to 400 metres, and the estate produces six or seven white wines each year, both dry and sweet. Evidencia is the most detailed bottle in the range: a blend of Gros Manseng, Petit Manseng, Courbu and Camaralet with peach, apple, pear and nefle aromas.
The Producer
Clos Lapeyre became a dedicated wine estate in 1998, after Jean-Bernard Larrieu moved the family property away from mixed farming. Larrieu is a third-generation viticulturist and oenologist, and his work put the native Manseng grapes at the centre of a varied Jurançon range.
The estate does not make one white wine in several labels. It produces six or seven separate whites, divided between dry and sweet styles, with each wine following the character of its vintage. That approach suits Petit Manseng and Gros Manseng, two local grapes that demand close vineyard work and can carry very different levels of ripeness and sweetness.
Place
Jurançon is the appellation behind Clos Lapeyre's wines, and the estate's address is unusually high for a southwest French vineyard. The vines occupy terraces at 350 to 400 metres, facing south, where Petit Manseng and Gros Manseng receive the site conditions needed for a range of white wines instead of one fixed style.
The label relationship is direct: Jurançon names the regional wine, while the individual bottle records how the estate and vintage have treated the grapes. Dry and sweet whites can therefore sit beside one another without leaving the appellation's central territory.
Soil And Site
Clos Lapeyre's soils are silty clay over puddingstones, a combination typical of Jurançon. The vineyard is divided into seven parcels ranging from one to six hectares, so the estate works with separate blocks across the terraces instead of treating 17 hectares as one undifferentiated field.
That parcel pattern supports a range built around vintage variation. Different blocks can contribute to different dry and sweet whites, while the local Manseng grapes retain their place at the centre of the estate's work.
Story
Jean-Bernard Larrieu began specialising in winegrowing in 1985, tending the vines, making the wine, ageing it, bottling it and selling it himself. Clos Lapeyre was formally established as a dedicated producer in 1998. The change was practical: a mixed farm became an estate with its own wines and its own route to the bottle.
The vineyard then grew from 10 hectares in 2000 to 17 hectares after the acquisition of a seven-hectare old vineyard parcel in 2004. The present estate is divided into seven parcels, giving the cellar a broader set of vineyard lots from which to build six or seven whites each year.
Vineyards And Cellar
Clos Lapeyre farms organically, with an approach that respects the plant, its physiology and its environment. That choice is especially relevant for Petit Manseng and Gros Manseng, native grapes described as high-maintenance varieties. Vineyard work carries more weight when the grapes themselves require careful attention through the growing season.
In the cellar, intervention is kept very limited. The estate places the main work in the vineyard, then allows the whites to retain the character of their vintage. With both dry and sweet wines in production, this leaves sweetness, ripeness, texture and aroma to vary from bottle to bottle instead of being forced into one house profile.
Wines
The annual range contains six or seven white wines, with dry and sweet styles sharing the same estate but taking different paths through the vintage. The range is therefore organised by wine style and harvest character, not by a long list of named vineyard classifications.
Evidencia is a natural Jurançon made from Gros Manseng, Petit Manseng, Courbu and Camaralet. Its profile is unusually broad for a single bottle: stone fruit, citrus-linked fruit, assertive chunky fruit, a velvety palate and sherry-like aromas all belong to its description. The blend brings four grapes together, while the wine's direct fruit and soft texture make it distinct from the sweeter or drier bottles elsewhere in the estate's production.
In The Glass
Evidencia opens with a sequence of peach, apple and pear, followed by nefle notes that give the aroma a less familiar turn. Sherry-like tones sit alongside the fruit, adding a savoury, oxidative-looking edge to the nose without displacing the main fruit character.
On the palate, the wine arrives explosively and fills the mouth with fruit. The texture turns velvety, while the chunky fruit gives the middle of the wine a broad, assertive feel. As it leaves the palate, that combination of dense fruit and soft texture remains more prominent than a hard, angular finish. Across the wider Clos Lapeyre range, the shift from dry to sweet changes the balance of fruit, ripeness and mouthfeel from bottle to bottle because each wine follows its vintage.
A Bottle To Understand It
Start with Evidencia. It is a Jurançon white built from Gros Manseng, Petit Manseng, Courbu and Camaralet, and it puts the estate's regional grapes into one vivid, fruit-filled bottle. Peach, apple, pear and nefle rise from the glass, followed by a velvety palate with assertive, chunky fruit and sherry-like aromatic notes.
Evidencia is the right first bottle because it combines the estate's local grape focus with its willingness to let a wine stay direct and distinctive. It offers enough aromatic range to show how unusual the blend is, while the soft, full texture makes the wine immediately legible at the table.
Anecdote
In 1985, Jean-Bernard Larrieu began turning the family property away from mixed farming and toward wine. He was a third-generation viticulturist who had recently completed his training in viticulture and oenology, but the work still began at ground level: tending the vines, vinifying the grapes, ageing the wine, bottling it and finding people to buy it. For several years, the estate operated through that complete chain of personal labour. In 1998, the name Clos Lapeyre was formally established as a dedicated wine producer. Larrieu had moved from farming a mixed property to sending out bottles made from its own grapes.
Final Word
Clos Lapeyre brings together Jurançon's native Manseng grapes, high terraces, silty clay over puddingstones, organic farming and limited cellar intervention. Its six or seven dry and sweet whites follow the vintage in different ways. Evidencia, with its four-grape blend, chunky fruit and velvety palate, is the natural place to begin.
Sources
- https://www.jurancon-lapeyre.fr/?page_id=2564&lang=en
- https://www.accents-terroirs.com/en/domaines/clos-lapeyre/
- https://fr.gaultmillau.com/en/artisans/clos-lapeyre
- https://www.jurancon-lapeyre.fr/?product=clos-lapeyre-natural-jurancon-wine-evidencia-from-lapeyre&lang=en
- https://www.forestwines.com/products/clos-lapeyre-evidencia-jurancon