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French #Winophiles Go Far Afield with Pays Basque
Our French #Winophiles Group is exploring (virtually of course) one of the off-the-beaten-path areas of France, the French Basque region.

Pays Basque is a tiny region tucked into the corner of France touching the Atlantic ocean, the Pyenees mountains and the Basque region of Spain. map courtesy of http://www.guide-du-paysbasque.com

Pays Basque Fundamentals

The region is tiny, but has many highlights:

• Many beaches for sunning and surfing on the Atlantic coast along with the beach resort town of Biarritz. The New York Times posted this article on 26 hours in Biarritz.
• The Spanish border and the Pyrénées mountains, there is even a long hiking trail in the mountains
• A wide variety of artisans in the region offer their crafts.

Irouleguy is a very nice red wine officially from the French Basque region. It’s a shame it’s difficult to find in the US.

Jurançon makes both dry and sweet version of their white wine. Slightly outside the Basque region, we included it as it may be a bit easier to find!

Wine and Food of the Basque Region
There is only 1 AOC wine officially part of the Basque region, Irouleguy. Because Irouleguy can be difficult to locate in the US, we stretched the boundaries and included white wines from Jurancon in our post. Take a look below at all the great ideas you’ll see this weekend. While you’re at it, join our chat on Twitter on 17 August at 10am CDT. Just search for the hashtag: #Winophiles

• Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla shares “A Geography Snafu + Poulet Basquaise with Domaine Illaria Irouleguy 2016”
• Robin of Crushed Grape Chronicles shares “French Poets, Philandering Kings and little sweetness from Jurançon“
• Martin from Enofylz Wine Blog shares “A Match Made in Heaven; Jurançon Sec and Instant Pot Shrimp Boil”
• Jane at Always Ravenous shares “French Basque Rosé Paired with Sicilian Pasta“
• Oliver at In Taste Buds We Trust shares “Domaine Brana : Showing the Way in Irouléguy”
• Cynthia and Pierre at Traveling Wine Profs share “Celebrating the Revival of Irouléguy“
• Gwen from Wine Predator shares “Madiran: French Basque Wine of Pyrenees With Pixtos“
• Payal at Keep the Peas shares “Basque-ing in Irouléguy Wines and More”
• Jeff at Food Wine Click! shares “Basque Chicken and Irouléguy, Perfect Winter Dish on the Hottest Day of the Summer”