Picpoul / Piquepoul

We're leaving the altitude of the Andes today to fly to the southeastern French shores of the Mediterranean. We're headed to Languedoc to sample the white variety of the grape known as picpoul or piquepoul.

Literally, the name of the grape means lip stinger and if you sample the juice before the wine has been fully fermented, you'll understand why. The juice of the picpoul grape is so acidic that is unimaginable that it can turn into a drinkable wine, but it does.

While the wines we're sampling today do have appeal to consumers, winemakers are not traditionally thrilled with the grape. It mildews easily and does not produce large amounts of juice per hectare of grapes grown. In other words, it's not a high profit grape. But, due to what would seem to be the archaic viticultural laws in France, it's one of the grapes that can be used in Languedoc.

Even after having gone through fermentation, traditionally in steel tanks, the wines produced, if from the AOC known as Picpoul de Pinet, remain quite acidic, but balanced. Because of that, we'll want to serve it a cooler temperature than most white wines, perhaps as low as 6C/43F.

As a companion, however, the acidity and structure of the wine makes it an excellent teammate. Serve Picpoul with shellfish, in particular, raw oysters or even scallops or shrimp cocktail. Expect notes from fragrant bristly trees to go along with the acidity. And, if even after cooling, you find the wine to acidic for your taste, add a squeeze of lemon to your shellfish and le voila, the acidity will be tamed.


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