Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh

🇫🇷 France

AOC Rare find

Madiran's white wine twin - indigenous Petit Manseng and Gros Manseng create both dry and sweet whites from the Pyrenean foothills.

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Region profile

History

Dutch merchants bought these wines via the Adour river and Bayonne port from 16th-18th centuries. Phylloxera devastated the region. Dr. Pierre Doléris, a local physician and wine advocate, was instrumental in obtaining AOC status in 1948, preserving traditions at risk of disappearing. Today vineyards are just one-tenth of their 19th-century extent.

Climate
Atlantic-Pyrenean; warm autumns with föhn winds perfect for late harvest; clay-limestone over galets roulés (rolled pebbles)
Signature wines
Château Laffitte-Teston Cuvée Ericka (Sec) - 8 generations, 50 hectares, 37 gold medals at Concours Général Agricole Paris; most awarded producer in appellation. Also: Domaine Labranche Laffont. Price: $15-35.
What sets it apart
AOC 1948 alongside Madiran; Gascon name for vine training; 8-generation family estates; Dr. Doléris saved the tradition; same terroir as Tannat but for whites

Facts

  • AOC 1948 (same year as Madiran)
  • name means "posts in a row" (pachets en renc) in Gascon - describing trellising
  • vineyards just 10% of pre-phylloxera extent
  • Dr. Pierre DolĂ©ris championed the AOC to preserve tradition

Region profile from the Wine Memories wine-data corpus · verified January 2026