Home > Producer Profiles > South West Profiles > Clos Uroulat

Clos Uroulat

Clos Uroulat is home to Charles Hours and his wife, Marie. Over the twenty years since they purchased the estate it has expanded from just 3.5 hectares to the current 14 hectares. The vineyards are planted predominantly with Petit Manseng, with 35% Gros Manseng and 5% of the indigenous Petit Courbu making up the balance. The vines are planted at a density of 4000 plants/ha and are trained high, with yields depending on the cuvée, as little as 30 hl/ha in some cases.

Charles has not been shy of new investment, conscious of the need for good facilities in the production of great wine. He has built a smart new presshouse and barrel cellar between 1990 and 1996, and the domaine has been kitted out with temperature controlled fermentation equipment and a gentle pneumatic press. The barrel house sees a 20% turnover in oak each year. As well as vinifying his own fruit, he now also purchases grapes from local growers.

There are just two cuvées produced here, one dry and one sweet Jurançon. The dry is Cuvée Marie, made from 90% Gros Manseng and 10% Petit Courbu, harvested at 50 hl/ha. After a gentle press and fermentation the wine goes into barrel for up to eleven months, with a maximum 10% new oak. The wine is, in my opinion, one of the best Jurançons of the region, ranking with the wines of Cauhape. The Clos Uroulat Jurançon is 100% Petit Manseng, harvested at 30 hl/ha in November, and is thus a late-harvest style. As with the dry wine this cuvée spends up to eleven months in barrel, although the proportion of new wood may be higher, up to 25%. It is one of the top sweet Jurançons available, and as such it is clear that Clos Uroulat is, in the opinion of this writer, one of the stars of the South-West. (19/9/05)

Contact details:
Address: Quartier Trouilh, 64360 Monein
Telephone: +33 (0) 5 59 21 46 19
Fax: +33 (0) 5 59 21 46 90
Internet: www.uroulat.com

Clos Uroulat - Tasting Notes

Click to locate stockists:

2003

Charles Hours Cuvée Marie Vin de Table 2003: The usual grapes that make the Jurançon, but declassified as a Vin de Table because of high residual sugar; this wine contains 6g/l residual sugar, whereas the upper limit for Jurançon is 4 g/l. No vintage designation is permitted on VdT wines, but a small swan - shaped remarkably like a number two - followed by 003 gives a clue. Good colour. Great richness on the nose, with plenty of buttery, smoky richness. Simply lovely palate, combining the fresh, piercing white fruit of the Gros Manseng with a smokiness like that on the nose, wrapped up in a creamy texture. This is divine vin de table! Very good indeed. 17+/20 (September 2005)

Charles Hours Jurançon Uroulat 2003: Bright, golden hue. A lovely nose, redolent of pineapple and honey. And brilliant verve on the palate; superb, focussed, firm acidity, which cuts through the rich texture with a tingling certainty. Rich, textured, tropical mango and pineapple, backed up by a wealth of residual sugar and even a spritz of dissolved carbon dioxide. Although this doesn't have the depth of the 2002, this gives pleasure in spades. Brilliant wine, for drinking now and over the next few years. 17.5/20 (September 2005)

2002

Charles Hours Jurançon Uroulat 2002: A huge slug of brown-stained tartrate crystals. Lovely, ripe, golden colour, and a delightful nose of ripe pineapple, mango and apricot, with a fine overlay of honeyed botrytis. Super palate; rich, yet fresh and finely balanced, with some very fine acidity. Piles of flavour matching that found on the nose, with good botrytis influence here, with some honey notes and even the faintest hint of butterscotch behind all the ripe tropical fruits. Lovely texture, and fine presence on the palate. This is very good indeed. Drink now or over the next decade at least. 17.5+/20 (September 2005)

2001

Charles Hours Jurançon Cuvée Marie 2001: A nice, golden colour. Mineral nose, almond paste, perhaps barrique-derived, with fresh white fruits swirled with a little cream. Good, fresh entry. Plenty of grip and body evident, quite firm, tart acidity. Freshly squeezed lemon character to the fruit, although with a little rounded, pithy citrus edge, and a floral component too. Full bodied, rustic perhaps. But very good. 16.5/20 (September 2005)

Clos Uroulat

Clos Uroulat - Tasting Notes

The South-West