Cles des Ducs XO Armagnac, 70 cl

Product Information

The existence of the port of La Rochelle and the 1860 Trade Agreement between France and England under the authority of Napoleon III enabled Cognac to grow exponentially abroad, which continues to this day. 98% of the production is exported. Cognac is mainly sold by __four major, world-known Cognac trading houses: Hennessy, Courvoisier, Remy-Martin and Martell. Domaine d’Esperance, 2003 Folle Blanche, Bas-Armagnac, 50% ABV, 750 ml is a vintage, specific cask selection produced entirely from Folle blanche grapes. The company has been run by members of the Montesquiou family since 1990. Wine is made from grapes from the Armagnac region of France and is then distilled through a column still. The resulting brandy is then aged in oak barrels for a minimum of one year before bottling. What Does Armagnac Taste Like?

Domaine Tariquet: A taste of Armagnac history Domaine Tariquet: A taste of Armagnac history

Serve at room temperature after a good meal (it can also be enjoyed alongside a blue cheese, a crème bûlée, apple pie, a chocolate fondant), or at the end of a long day. DOMAINE TARIQUET ARMAGNAC XO: AWARDS Château de Laubade, XO, Bas Armagnac, 40% ABV, 750 ml offers up intense notes of orange peel/marmalade, peach, apricot, toasted bread, dried and fresh herbs, and dried fruit, along with notes of cinnamon, chili pepper, other wood spices and a touch of savoriness. This is a smooth, full-bodied, mouth coating Armagnac blended from brandies 15 to 25 years old. A buttery vanilla caramel on the palate with a slight orange peel, pepper, and nutmeg spice on the finish. Best Served

Castarède, Bas Armagnac, XO, 10 YO, 40% ABV, 750 ml is a bold, creamy and powerful Armagnac with distinctive notes of dried and candied fruits, along with spice aromas of cinnamon, pepper and nutmeg around a core of caramel and toasted oak. There are floral notes of potpourri plus hints of sandalwood incense, along with mocha notes of cocoa and coffee. Though only 10 YO, it also offers up hints of classic rancio aromas of leather and furniture wax. A classic Armagnac expression that offers the best the spirit can offer. Ten different varieties of Armagnac grapes are authorised for use in the production of Armagnac. Of these, four are most common: Bois Ordinaires. In this extensive area only 1.5% of vines are devoted to Cognac. They are found close to the Atlantic Ocean as well as Deux-Sevres and Dordogne. This is a very aromatic Armagnac with notes of dried figs, plums, raisins, dried orange zest and prune, along with toasted nuts, caramel, cinnamon and chocolate. There is a bit of a vegetative note, think cooked green bean or cooked cabbage. This is not unusual in Armagnac and is usually associated with Colombard grapes. The greater the proportion of Colombard, the more pronounced the vegetative notes usually are.

XO Armagnac Reviews, Ratings And Facts - Best XO Armagnac

It’s a spirit that is not well known in the US. That’s a pity. If you like brandy, especially the kind of aged expressions that you can wrap yourself around in front of a fireplace, you really owe it to yourself to discover this remarkable spirit. The fact that it is incredibly well priced and offers exceptional value doesn’t hurt either. We received a smattering of Laubade releases, including two of its classics and various special editions. Let’s dig in. Baron De Lustrac X.O. 25-Year-Old Bas Armagnac is made predominantly with Folle Blanche grapes and blended with other Armagnac from the surrounding regions. The spirit is then left to age in new oak casks for 25 years and bottled at cask strength. On The Nose Continuing this pioneering tradition, Yves Grassa was the first to produce sweet wines in the region from the seductive Gros Manseng and Petit Manseng grapes, indigenous varieties from the South West of France. Baron de Lustracis a small spirit producer with estates in the Tenereze and Bas-Armagnac regions. The Distillery only produces a single varietal offering of its unique Armagnac or on a bottled-on-demand arrangement.The region covers around 2,420 hectares (compared with over 75,000 hectares in Cognac) and is divided into three parts: Bas-Armagnac, Haut-Armagnac, and Armagnac-Ténarèze. Bas-Armagnac means ‘low’ because it is less than 120 metres above sea level. Around 50-60% of production is from this sub-region and the sandy, iron-rich soils are said to produce some of the finest grapes in Armagnac. Then there is the tiny Haut-Armagnac, the high ground, up to about 200 metres above sea level, with mainly chalky soils which produce a rare delicate and fruity spirit. It makes up less than 2% of production. Finally, there's Armagnac Ténarèze making up the rest of production, around 40%, with its rich clay and chalk soils leading to a more robust spirit. A lot of Armagnac will be blends of the three regions. Armagnac is sold under several classifications, mostly referring to the age of the constituent brandies. Armagnac is allowed to be sold under vintages. When Armagnacs of different ages have been blended, the age on the bottle refers to the youngest component. A three-star, or VS, Armagnac is a mix of several Armagnacs that have seen at least one year of ageing in wood. For VSOP the ageing is at least four years, and for XO and Hors d'âge ten years. Older and better Armagnacs are often sold as vintages, with the bottles containing Armagnac from a single year, the year being noted on the bottle, aged for a minimum of 10 years. Vintages flavour and appearance change depending on factors including the grape, ageing time, barrel used for ageing, grape variety, weather that year, storage location and more. [7] Armagnac is rich in flavour and, depending on age, will usually have notes of caramel, cocoa, prunes, nuts, vanilla, oak and cinnamon. The opening is delightfully rich and smooth, with a subtle bite of spice on the finish. Understanding Armagnac Age Lettering Castarède then goes a step further and ages the fine spirit for another ten years in new oak casks, delivering one of the finest Armagnac’s available. On The Nose Petite Champagne, sits astride the Charente and Charente-Maritime departments, around Barbezieux (Charente), Archiac and Jonzac (Charente-Maritime).

Armagnac- Majestic Wine

The wines are distilled in a traditional armagnac alambic fired with wood from recycled vine stakes. The 100-year-old cellars quietly safeguard the barrels during maturation. Each grape variety and each vintage are distilled and aged separately for the first years. After several years of ageing in fine grain oak barrels from the most renowned French forests, these eaux-de-vie become Bas-Armagnacs of great finesse and rare elegance. Unlike Armagnac, Cognac historically developed focusing on export to the Netherlands and to England. Cognac was created by wine producers who wished to export their low-alcohol white wine to England and Holland but decided to distill it so it would better withstand the journey.In 1946, Pierre Grassa married Jean-Pierre’s daughter, Hélène Artaud. With heads full of ideas, they took over Domaine Tariquet (with 10 hectares of vines in production) and set about developing the property by buying more land to grow corn. With their four children, Maïté, Christiane, Françoise and Yves, the family was virtually self-sufficient. Unlike Cognac, which undergoes a double distillation in a Charentais-style pot still, Armagnac typically undergoes only a single distillation in an Alembic Armagnac. This is a small, usually wood or gas fired, mobile, continuous column still. The stills can have up to 15 plates. Most producers use between 5 to 8 plates and some as little as three. Most distillation is by these mobile distillers. The stills carry names, allowing producers to request specific stills to do their distillation each year. The Baron de Lustrac is incredibly smooth and satiny. Extremely flavorful and complex it represents an exceptional value for an ultra-aged Armagnac. Armagnac producer Chateau de Laubade got its start in 1870 in Gascony, and today it farms 260 acres of grapes used for its brandies. Laubade’s claim to fame — one of them, at least — is that it is one of few properties producing all four grapes allowed by the Armagnac appellation: ugni blanc, folle blanche, colombard, and baco. It happens to be the largest producer of baco grapes in the entire region. The distillery also notes that its blends are aged twice as long as required by regulations.

Armagnac de Montal XO : The Whisky Exchange

This article is about the French brandy. For other uses, see Armagnac (disambiguation). A 1956 armagnac—Baronne Jacques de Saint-PastouAs we already mentioned, Armagnac is one of the oldest eaux-de-vie. Its history is an integral part of French gastronomic heritage as illustrated in the many recipes and culinary preparations which include Armagnac (for flaming, sauces, etc.). However, Armagnac is but little exported and continues to be mainly consumed in France. It comes from small producers and family-run establishments which perpetuate ancestral traditions and know-how. Cognac: great Cognac houses which export worldwide Château de Lacquy produces a range of vintage and varietal specific expressions that are bottled at cask strength. These are typically single barrel bottlings. Production is limited to under 500 bottles per expression and the Armagnac can be hard to find. The Château is owned by the Boisseson family, Armagnac producers for more than 10 generations—this is the oldest family-owned producer in Armagnac. Haut-Armagnac or White Armagnac is characterized by soils which are predominantly limestone except along its southern part where soils are siliceous clay “boulbènes” (bolbena in Occitan). Darroze has had multiple bottlings over the last decade so the bottle you find may be anywhere from 48 YO to 55 YO. From a practical matter there is not much difference between a 48 YO and a 55 YO Armagnac, what differences there are will be very subtle. Armin said: “Amplitude is a surprising, unusual dry white wine, with beautiful tension and ample on the palate. It’s produced from Gros Manseng, an indigenous variety. Entracte is a blend of Chenin and Chardonnay for which the second fermentation takes place in a closed vat. We wanted to produce a sparkling white wine which would offer light, refreshing and very delicate bubbles. The alcohol level also had to be low; the 2018 vintage is only 10.5%, like Domaine Tariquet Classic”.