Petit Courbu

Identity

Petit Courbu is the better of the two Courbus, and it is the one whose name says "little".

Confusion with Courbu — sometimes called "gros courbu" to tell them apart — is constant in the Pyrenean vineyards. They are two distinct varieties, and Pl@ntGrape is markedly warmer about this one: "fine wines, of quality, aromatic and of great delicacy". For plain Courbu, the same source settles for sugary, moderately acidic musts suited to dry wines as well as sweet.

When an ampelographic record uses "great delicacy", that is a judgement, and it is rare.

In the vineyard

Bud burst mid-season, ripeness late. Late ripeness in the Pyrenean foothills, where autumn is mild and dry under the foehn, is an asset — it is the same calendar that allows the Mansengs their raisining on the vine.

Its vigour is not filled in, and the reason is explicit in the source record: Pl@ntGrape calls it "not very productive" without stating a vigour of its own. Productivity and vigour are distinct things, and this corpus does not fill one in from the other. The empty field means "not established".

Not very productive: that is where to look for the cause of its marginality. A fine but stingy variety does not get planted at scale.

In the glass

Two descriptors here, acacia and honey, and they are readings of the register the source describes — "aromatic and of great delicacy" — not quotations of named descriptors.

What the source actually says comes down to one word: delicacy. This is a blending variety that brings elegance rather than substance, which explains its survival in an appellation where the Mansengs already supply the acidity and the sugar.

Where it is named

At Jurançon, an accessory variety behind Petit Manseng and Gros Manseng.

It is the only published appellation in this corpus to cite it. It is reputed to grow elsewhere in the foothills — Béarn, Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh, Irouléguy — but none of those appellations has a node here, and none of their texts was opened for this entry.

What this entry does not say

Its parentage, undocumented in the sources consulted. And its exact relationship to Courbu: two distinct varieties, yes, but nothing in what has been read establishes that they are related, or that they are not. A closeness of name settles nothing — this corpus has already learned that lesson with the two Mansengs, which share a name without sharing a documented pedigree.