Gascony, the birthplace of Armagnac, was made world famous by Alexandre Dumas’ legendary character, D’Artagnan the musketeer. Gascony, however, is the home of France’s oldest brandy, boasting records of distillation taking place as far back as 1411.

Mother Nature gave the region virtually everything: forests which could provide wood to make both fire and barrels; the River Baise which creates a microclimate perfect for the ageing of spirits; soils that are suited to the growing of vines; and a climate that is ideal for promoting both vine growth and maturation of brandy.

Although Armagnac was only drunk locally for centuries, the early 19th century brought two changes that improved its fortunes. Firstly the continuous still was invented; this method was better suited to the distillation of wines from sand and clay soils than the hitherto used pot stills. Secondly, canals and railways finally provided that missing element-an effective route to market.

Armagnac is a brandy made from grapes from a limited and strictly controlled area in the Gers, Landes and Lot-et- Garonne departments of south-west France. It is produced from white wine, distilled, aged in oak barrels for a minimum of two years, and bottled at a minimum of 40 % abv. Unusually for a wine or spirit of quality, Armagnac comes from sandy soils in an area that was once a deep undersea valley between the Pyrenées and the Massif Central.

The region’s temperate climate has two maritime influences: that of the Atlantic, ameliorated by the Landes Forest, and that of the Mediterranean brought on the Autan wind. These help to moderate temperatures and subsequently the fully fermented wines for distillation only achieve 9-10 % alcohol. On the 25th May 1909, the region was delimited and on the 6th August 1936, the 15,000ha Armagnac AOC was born with three crus.

THE ARMAGNAC REGION
BAS ARMAGNAC Lying lower than the other sub-regions (hence its name) and to the west the region’s 1er cru is an area of forested, rolling hills, on whose slopes lie the vineyards. A very heavy topsoil, known as boulbène, rich in limestone, lies over a somewhat acidic combination of sand, clay and pebbles. In some places this is mixed with iron giving rise to the term sables fauves (literally tawny sand). To the northwest of the sub-region the soil becomes predominantly clay giving supple brandies that are relatively quick to mature and evoke associations of prunes, plums and tobacco.

TÉNARÈZE Very rich in boulbène over clay and chalk, combining here to give brandies with slightly more finesse and a more rounded, aromatic, fruity style, with undertones of violets and which are capable of great age.

HAUT ARMAGNAC Located to the east of the region on clay and chalk slopes, this region can produce quality brandies.

WHAT IS ARMAGNAC MADE FROM?
Twelve grape varieties are permitted but the main ones are:

UGNI BLANC (TREBBIANO) Prevalent since the phylloxera blight and now accounts for in excess of 80 % of all vines in the region; it contributes excellent acidity levels and a good balanced character that produces a well balanced distillate.

FOLLE BLANCHE (PICPOULE) This was the variety of the region until 1870 but after phylloxera it did not take well to grafting and showed a susceptibility to grey rot. It does, however, have excellent levels of acidity and aromatics that are perfect for distillation.

COLOMBARD Grown in small quantities; it gives fragrance and aroma to a distillate.

BACO 22A Named after one Mr. Baco, this hybrid—a cross between Folle Blanche and the deservedly maligned Noah-was an attempt to retain some of the Folle Blanche character. Baco 22A is especially suited to the sandy soils of Bas Armagnac and produces brandies with a big structure that can often require many years oak ageing in order to tame their power.

WHAT CAN BE ON THE LABEL?

GEOGRAPHICAL CRU

GRAPE VARIETY

• AGE DESIGNATIONS:

• VS/THREE STAR Minimum 2 years

• VSOP Minimum 5 years

• XO/NAPOLÉON Minimum 6 years

• HORS D’ÂGE Minimum 10 years

• SINGLE VINTAGE YEAR/AGE STATEMENT

• These are minimum ages following the year of harvest and represent the youngest Armagnac in the blend. Growers have five years from the harvest to declare brandies they wish to sell as vintage or age statement, however these must be aged a minimum of ten years before bottling.

• Armagnac’s governing body, the BNIA (Bureau National Interprofessionnel de l’Armagnac), has striven for many decades now to assure that the provenance of vintage and age statement Armagnac’s is sound. When there is a movement of these spirits-be it a bulk, bottled sale or simple management of logistics—the BNIA must be informed. The BNIA will also conduct producer stock checks with any irregularities carrying punitive measures including the cellar losing its vintage status. Thus, those that import and subsequently distribute, wholesale, or retail very old vintage Armagnac’s can be confident that the contents of each bottle are true to its label.

HOW IS IT MADE?
Fermentation of the grape must lasts about two weeks. The wines then rest for approximately three-weeks and are not racked. Thus, it is a cloudy, acidic, low alcohol wine that charges the still between the second week of November and, at the very latest, the 31st March following the harvest. This early distillation has two benefits: it ensures that only fresh wines are distilled, and it helps preserve the light estery aromas which will be concentrated through the distillation process.

Distillation is either by continuous single column or double distillation in pot stills, although the latter do not produce Armagnac’s with the same traditional, robust character as the former. With the continuous still, known in the region as the Alambic Armagnacais, the wine is heated and the vapours cooled by a simple heat exchange in the condenser and the distillation takes place in the adjoining boiler; each batch of wine flowing through until it is all distilled.

Initially the wine flows from the condenser into the top of the boiler where it trickles down through perforated plates-interacting with the alcoholic vapours that are passing up-until it reaches the base where the boiler brings it up to 92–93 ˚C. Thus, the wine, now a vapour, starts upwards again heading to the plate at the top where it is collected or discarded according to the style desired. The strength of the final spirit depends on the number of plates in the still through which the vapours pass.

These traditional stills are very small and allow a lot of the heavy, congener and fusel-rich vapours to pass over with the heart of the distillate. This results in a spirit significantly lower in alcohol than other regions; as low as 52 %, although the average is between 55–63 %. It is important to note that at 52 % there are twice as many congeners-the elements in alcohol that give a spirit its aromas and flavours-than at 60 %. These distillates always have a rich, earthy character but producing a fine, flavoursome, well-balanced spirit at such low strength is not easy and takes years of experience.

THE AGEING OF ARMAGNAC
Ageing generally takes place in 400-litre oak barrels. The greater the amount of congeners, the longer it takes for them to break down; therefore, a longer than average maturation could be required. Thus, young Armagnac’s are often the product of double pot still distillation as this method produces less in the way of congeners.

The traditionalists prefer to use Monlezun, a local dark oak, to make their barrels; it gives the brandies a particular richness and is excellent for taming the natural harshness of the spirit. This Gascon oak is now in short supply resulting in Limousin, and to a lesser extent, Tronçais, finding favour in recent years. It takes about 10 years in barrel for the true quality of Armagnac from continuous still to emerge; it is at this point that all the balance, complexity and roundness one expects from a quality spirit begins to come through. After 40–60 years many companies will transfer their brandies to glass demi-johns to prevent them from becoming too woody. Different varietal distillates are often kept separate until blending time, allowing for the possibility of not only vintage-dated Armagnac but also varietal vintage Armagnac.