Ten things you should know about Armagnac
1. Armagnac is the oldest eau-de-vie in France
Aygue Ardente, as Armagnac was known in the 14th century was first mentioned by Vital Dufour, a Prior in Eauze, the capital of the Armagnac region. Later to be named Cardinal, he wrote a book entitled ‘Very Useful Book for preserving your health and staying on top form’ in 1310 that stated the 40 virtues of this noble eau-de-vie and this book is conserved in the Vatican library in Rome. Armagnac predates its more northerly cousin Cognac by 150 years.
A few of the therapeutic virtues include: It enlivens the spirit if taken in moderation, preserves youth and delays senility, recalls the past to memory, renders men joyous, cures hepatitis…. And he can’t have been that wrong as recent studies held by Bordeaux university state that people living in the Armagnac region live on average five years longer than elsewhere in France!
2. Armagnac comes from southwest France
Trace a line between the cities of Bordeaux to Toulouse to the Pyrenees mountains and you have a triangle that gives you the location of the Armagnac region. As France is divided into regions and then departments, Armagnac is mostly situated in the Department of the Gers with a small part of the Departments of the Lot-et-Garonne in the north and the Landes to the west; in turn those departments fall into the regions of Occitanie and Nouvelle Aquitaine.
3. Three regions are identified for Armagnac production and three soil types
Armand Fallières, President of the Republic of France from 1906 – 1913 hailed from Mezin in the Lot et Garonne, the northern part of the Armagnac area, where he was also a winegrower. He signed a document on 3rd May 1909 recognising the ‘savoir-faire’ of the region’s producers and it was he that delimited the three zones of Armagnac production that exist today.
Bas Armagnac in the west boasts predominantly sandy soils known as sables fauves, Armagnac Tenarèze in the centre is mostly made up of limestone and clay soils and Haut Armagnac to the east and south of the region is based on dominant limestone slopes.
4. Armagnac is an AOC product
AOC means Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (controlled designation of origin) which is a strict certification that identifies an agricultural product whose stages of production and processing are carried out in a defined geographical area and uses traditional and recognised knowledge. The AOC certification is granted to wines, spirits, cheeses, etc and is designed to protect distinctive and traditional products. AOC criteria is extremely regulated and enforces the work in the vineyard, all the way through to the label on the bottle.
Other French AOC spirits include: Cognac, Calvados, a Kirsch and a Rum from Martinique.
5. Ten grape varieties are authorised for the production of AOC Armagnac
Diversity is a key word when referring to Armagnac and one of the reasons for this wonderful diversity is the use of a potential ten different grape varieties.
Although ten are mentioned in the AOC, there are four main grapes: Ugni Blanc (also known as Trebbiano), an Italian grape which is one of the most widely grown white grapes in the world and the grape used in near totality for the production of Cognac. This represents about 55% of the plantings in the Armagnac vineyard.
Baco is the second most planted grape in the region that represents about 35% of the vines in Armagnac. It is the only hybrid (cross between the American Noah grape grafted with Folle Blanche) permitted in any of the AOCs in France and is specific to Armagnac. It is an eco-friendly grape as it needs very little chemical intervention and gives excellent yields. It prefers the sandy soils of the Bas Armagnac area.
Folle Blanche is the historic grape variety for Armagnac that covered the Department of the Gers, which, prior to the devastating Phylloxera blight that destroyed France’s vineyards in 1873, was the largest grape growing region in France. As it is a very temperamental grape that is difficult to grow, it only represents about 5% of the plantings today, however it does give a most delicate and floral eau-de-vie. The last of the main four grapes is Colombard (5%) which is also often used in the local Gascon wines. The final six varieties include: Plant de Graisse, Meslier St François, Clairette de Gascogne, Jurançon blanc, Mauzac blanc and Mauzac rosé. Some producers have all ten varieties in their vineyards.
6. Natural wine only
The grape harvest in Armagnac generally takes place anytime from the end of August/beginning of September where the grapes will be harvested by state-of-the-art machines that straddle the vines and literally suck the individual grapes from the bunches. These machines are engineered to be the most efficient for this sensitive task as they can rapidly, carefully and cleanly collect the grapes without any stalks or leaves.
Once pressed, the wine is made, though quite unlike table wines that have sulphur and sometimes sugar added to preserve them, the wines for distillation must be completely natural. It is completely forbidden to add anything. As such, the wines are fragile, hence the producer and distiller are looking for a wine that is high in acidity, which will protect the wine, and low in alcohol.
7. Distillation
Distillation in Armagnac starts as soon as the wine is ready which can be anytime from mid to end of October and though most producers will distil before the year is out, some producers opt to distil in January. This is made possible by stainless steel thermo-regulated tanks that can keep the wine cold and therefore stable. The final and official date for the end of distillation is 31st March of the year following the harvest. It will depend on the amount of wine to be distilled.
In Armagnac, more than 98% of Armagnac is distilled on a traditional Armagnac alambic.
8. Armagnac alambic
Every Armagnac alambic is unique, though they are all made of copper which is the best conductor of heat. It was patented in 1818 and they are either fixed or mobile. Only 48 houses own their own alambic so the other producers rely on the travelling alambics that travel from estate to estate. It is a 24 hour continuous process (though a lot of people refer to Armagnac being single distilled as opposed to double distilled as for Cognac). Double distillation is permitted in the region having been re-introduced in 1972, though only 3 houses own pot stills and these are primarily used for spirits destined to be sold in their youth.
The continuous distillation process was brought to Armagnac by the Moors due to the region’s proximity to Spain though they were more likely distilling for perfumes, not spirits. The legal alcohol distillation range for Armagnac is from 52% abv – 72.4% abv, though most distillers try to stay as low as possible in that range in order to retain as much of the character of the wine as possible. It is an extremely skilled job that requires precise attention to detail as regards an even temperature and flow of the wine into the apparatus.
9. The importance of oak
The mighty oak is the king in terms of ageing Armagnac and to be more precise, in accordance with the AOC laws, Armagnac must be aged in French oak only. French oak has more tannins and the two species that can be used are the pedunculate oak, which is the common oak with a wide grain that grows locally in the Gascony region, or the sessile oak which grows in France’s managed forests like the Allier and this one has a much tighter grain thereby releasing the tannins more slowly into the new eau-de-vie. The optimum size for ageing Armagnac is considered to be 400 litre barrels and these are called ‘pièces’ in the region.
The coopers toast the barrels on the inside with either a heavy, medium or light toasting over an oak wood chip fire and this will determine the colour and quick or slow release of the tannins into the new eau-de-vie once inside.
10. Armagnac Musketeers
Although romanticised by Alexandre Dumas, D’Artagnan, the fabled hero in The Three Musketeers was indeed a real person and his name was Charles de Batz de Castelmore d’Artagnan. He served with his fellow musketeers as guards to King Louis XIV of France. As a Gascon, from Lupiac in the south of the Gers, legend has it that D’Artagnan was responsible for introducing Armagnac to the court of the King. Today, he is highly venerated throughout the region with statues in several towns in the Gers including his birthplace of Lupiac, Auch, the capital of the Gers and Condom.
The Company of Armagnac Musketeers today is an organisation counting over 4500 members from all walks of life and from all over the world. The Company holds a special Chapter in the town of Condom annually where 450 Musketeers gather to honour their gallant hero around a gastronomic feast with VIPs ceremonially inducted into the fold.
