Clos Thou
| Vigneron | Henri Lapouble-Laplace |
| Location | La Chapelle de Rousse (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) |
| Size of Domaine | 9 ha |
| Terroir | Atlantic climate with mountain influences, foehn winds from the Pyrenées. Siliceous clay, limestone, sedimentary soils with poudingues (puddingstone – rounded conglomerate). Steep slopes and terraced vineyards. 250-330m altitude. |
| Viticulture | Certified organic (Bureau Veritas) |
| View Clos Thou wines ↓ |
Located on the foothills of the Pyrénées, the vineyards of Jurançon are subjected to strong climatic fluctuations, the Atlantic offers ample supply of water throughout the year, and warm weather combined to the famous foehn effect, prolongs the growing season well into the Autumn, allowing for the production of late harvest wines.
Named after Raymonde Thou who created the property during the 16th century, Clos Thou has been in the Lapouble-Laplace family for four generations, with Henri currently in charge. Its vineyards are on the slopes of Chapelle-de-Rousse, one of the best terroirs in the heart of the Jurançon appellation.
Henri converted the domaine to organic viticulture in 2007 after four years of successful trials. Planted mostly with gros manseng, petit manseng and petit courbu, the domaine is a sweet wine specialist, harvesting in successive tries late into December to select perfectly shrivelled-up, raisin-like grapes, thanks to the drying and warm southerly foehn winds.
Clos Thou Wines
JURANÇON 2020
100% Petit Manseng
100% Petit Manseng (13% alc, 70g/l of rs)
This is Clos Thou’s top wine and only 1,500 bottles of this exceptional sweet wine are made every year. Produced from minute yields of late-picked grapes that are left to shrivel on the vine (passerillage) until early December, when the snows are falling in the nearby Pyrénées. It is an intense, exotically fruited white with a cut of acidity so often lacking in other sweet wines.