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{ fine spirits }

BY KELLY A. MAGYARICS

WHILE CHERISHING ITS PAST, ARMAGNAC IS

PLANNING ITS FUTURE

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Benoit Hillion, Director of Armagnac Dartigalongue & Fils, at one of the company’s

traditional alembic stills.

GASCONY’S

New WaveBlanche is a new category of unaged

Armagnac that’s finding a place in cocktails.

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50 { THE SOMM JOURNAL } OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2014

a sleepy region in Southwest France, small, family-run pro-ducers distill the country’s oldest, most artisanal spirit. Armagnac aficionados tout its

texture, primary fruit flavors and oak-influenced notes of vanilla, caramel and toffee—which contrast with the subtle floral nuances of nearby cousin Cognac. Each damp November, alembic stills are lit, and friends and family are invited to dine next to their warming flames at celebratory harvest din-ners. But spending a few days in the region that time seems to have forgotten, drinking spirits that have been produced since at least the 14th century, belies Armagnac’s exciting future.

The latest crop of producers is young, energetic and not making their grandfather’s Armagnac. “The [younger] generation of distillers is quite dynamic,” notes Denis Lesgourgues, co-owner (along with his brother Arnaud) and President of Château de Laubade. “We travel more, we are more open-minded, and we want to see Armagnac more pow-erful among the super-premium market.”

Château de Laubade, a single-estate vineyard with 260 acres under vine, is making some decid-edly modern winemaking choices. The house is the region’s largest grower of the Baco grape, which Lesgourgues believes is essential for crafting a high-quality spirit. (Baco has been in overall decline in Gascony in favor of Colombard, Ugni Blance and Folle Blanche.) “To us, this grape embodies what makes Armagnac unique, rich, structured and complex.” Laubade also maintains a coopering house to craft casks from oak purchased from the sur-rounding forest in Gascony, whose staves are aged on the property.

In 2011, Laubade made what Lesgourgues calls a difficult decision: increasing by three years the overall aging of its flagship XO Armagnac, a blend of more than 40 brandies with an average of 20 years in the cask. “We were able to make it more complex, rounder and finer while working on the finish, which is more exquisite than ever.” Holding more spirit in cask makes for a more complex, yet easily sippable finished product; it also means that fewer bottles will be hitting store shelves.

Armin Grassa, co-owner of Château du Tariquet (along with his brother Rémy) believes the American consumer today is looking for that restrained, easy drinkability. “Consumers are getting more inter-ested in high-end Armagnacs,” he explains “Not necessarily old, but they are looking for elegance

ın{ fine spirits }

Jean-Jacques, Denis and Arnaud Lesgourgues at Château de Laubade.

Jérôme Delord tastes through the Delord line-up at Château Delord.

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“Armagnac will be drunk because of the quality of the product, not because it is cheaper than Cognac.”

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and good balance between alcohol and aromas.” He and his brother launched Tariquet in 1999—a mere baby compared to other houses—and aim to produce elegant, unaggressive Armagnacs with natural color and light toast.

The overall market for Armagnac has changed in three crucial ways, according to Jérôme Delord, Head Director and Sales Manager for Château Delord. Old vintages are nearly out of stock at some houses (meaning that blends are comprised of newer brandies); China and Russia have evolved into major export markets; and Armagnac is no longer viewed as a “cheaper alternative” to Cognac, but as a highly covetable option in its own right. “Armagnac will be drunk because of the quality of the product, not because it is vintage or cheaper than Cognac,” predicts Delord. But, as total production for Armagnac rests around seven to eight million cases, Delord admits it’s more of a “niche” than a major market player.

However, today’s generation of producers is expanding its portfolio, creating products that have opened up the category, including Blanche d’Armagnac, a new category of unaged Armagnac that is finding a place in cocktails. “In the last three to five years, the trend for premium cocktails has had a positive impact on Armagnac,” notes Lesgourgues. “Bartenders, mixologists and sommeliers regard the product with lots of respect because it’s traditional, full of history and a long heritage.”

Benoit Hillion, Director of Armagnac Dartigalongue & Fils, has witnessed a change during the past few years in Armagnac’s overarching style. “The industry produces Armagnacs without an excess of tannins, keeping the fruitiness of the distilled wine.” As promotional budgets are strained, he believes pro-ducers need to market Armagnac. “We can simply promote different ways of consuming Armagnac: pure, on the rocks, with tonic, in cocktails and with dessert.”

Hillion points out that since Armagnac’s heyday (post-World War II and before 1990) was followed by a time where sales sharply decreased, the current generation of producers has had to rely on what they’ve gleaned from relatives and books, rather than first-hand. “We are more positive and are still look-ing to improve the process, to understand better what the customer likes, to think about the packaging, etc.”

It’s traditional for Gascons to offer bottles of a recipient’s birth vintage to friends and family members celebrating birthdays—and fun to taste how those vintages are hold-ing up. As more brandy lovers are becoming exposed to Armagnacs of all ages and styles, Lesgourgues speculates that Armagnac sales will continue to grow in the U.S., especially on the on-premise market, and in cities in the Northeast, the West Coast, Chicago and Florida. For his part, Hillion believes more tastings and events in the United States will increasingly open up the category. As he puts it, “Armagnac takes time to age, and the markets take time to be developed.”

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Armin Grassa launched Château du Tariquet with his brother Rémy in 1999.

Armagnac Dartigalongue has

been producing Armagnac since 1838.

(right) Château du Tariquet X.O. is a

contemporary expres-sion of Armagnac.

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