When many folks think of brandy, they think of Cognac, because it is the world’s most famous. It is also considered an elegant, refined drink, one to be sniffed and sipped slowly, perhaps while puffing on an expensive cigar.
But two centuries before anyone even considered making Cognac, the Gascons of southwest France were distilling their own brandy. Most would be described as rustic rather than elegant, gutsy rather than refined. This is Armagnac, Cognac’s country cousin, perhaps, but a delicious and formidable spirit that will convert many a Cognac drinker.
Gascony, the home of musketeers, great feasts and Armagnac brandy, is not the France one finds in Paris. It is a farmer’s paradise, with grains and grapes everywhere. Though only 100 miles southeast of Bordeaux, it displays none of that wine center’s English-oriented cosmopolitanism. This is one reason Armagnac brandy lives in the shadow of the more famous Cognac, some 60 miles north of Bordeaux. Distillers and shippers in Cognac have developed their Bordelais trade, contacts and reputation more successfully.
But both are grape brandies, distilled from fruit whose light-bodied and acidic wines are usually not drunk but “burnt.” Brandewijn was “burnt wine” to the Dutch, who were the earliest shippers of the spirit. Both are fiery and colorless when young, and need time in oak as well as some cutting with water before they are fit to be consumed. How then do they differ?
First, Cognac has 176,000 acres of vineyards; Armagnac has only 38,000. Ugni blanc grapes account for nearly all the plantings in Cognac but make up only a third of the total in Armagnac, where it is joined by baco blanc, colombard, blanquette and folle blanche. Armagnac is warmer than Cognac, and its soil less chalky.
But the main reasons for the variation are in distillation and oak aging. Cognac is distilled twice to about 130 proof in an alembic–a one-batch-at-a-time pot still. Traditional Armagnac is distilled once to about 110 proof in a small continuous still. The higher the alcohol content after distillation, the fewer flavor-imparting impurities, or congeners, the spirit retains. Single-distilled Armagnacs have more congeners than do Cognacs. And when these brandies are diluted with water to bring them to bottling grade–80 to 86 proof–Armagnac needs less dilution.
Then there’s the wood. Traditionally, only air-dried staves from the black-leafed oak forest of Monlezun are used to age Armagnac. This oak imparts a distinctive flavor and does so much more quickly than does the Limousin or Troncais oak used in Cognac. Together these differences make Armagnac a richer, earthier brandy.
Armagnacs are blended and labeled in much the same way as Cognacs. Usually they are blends of brandies from many years, with strength coming from the young, complexity from the old. The youngest labeled brandy is at least 1 1/2 years old. VSOP and Reserve Armagnacs contain brandy at least 4 1/2 years old. And Extra, Vieille Reserve, Napoleon, and XO Armagnacs are blends whose youngest brandy must be at least 5 1/2 years old.
Aside from the quality/age indications above, Armagnacs are divided according to the subregion in which the grapes grew. Bas-Armagnac, in the far west, has certain sections rich in a subsoil called terre-bouc and is considered the finest zone. It is there that the black-leafed oaks proliferate, giving it the name “black Armagnac.” Fifty-eight percent of the acreage is in this subregion.
Tenareze, with 41 percent of the acreage, produces brandies considered more interesting than Haut-Armagnac, to the east, which has only a few acres devoted to brandy production. Most brandies are labeled simply “Armagnac.” But “Bas-Armagnac” or “Tenareze” on the label indicates that 100 percent of what’s in the bottle comes from the subregion.
Tradition dies hard, but die it does, even in the land of d’Artagnan. Although purists still demand the black-oak staves, the forest cannot always supply the need. Hence, some Armagnac is now aged in Limousin oak, and the resulting brandies take on a Cognac-like cachet. Also, in 1972, after a hiatus of 36 years, the pot still of Cognac was again allowed in Gascony. Though the cost of production is 40 percent higher than with the continuous still, the pot brandies are lighter and mature more quickly, so they can be sold sooner.
Whether these developments have significantly affected the sales of Armagnac isn’t known. (In the last 5 years the market, especially the export market, for both brandies has been stagnant or in decline.) But one statistic stands out: For the past several years, half of all Armagnac was drunk by the French, who consumed less than 10 percent of all Cognac. Aside from that, the export statistics are similar. The three biggest markets for both are Japan, the U.S. and Britain.
A recent review of the retail shelves showed about a dozen brands in the market, each with one or more levels of age/quality.
Favorites in the VSOP category include the de Montil ($56) and the Chateau de Tariquet ($36 and a much better value). In the XO or similar category, try the Loubere Vieille Speciale ($65), the Cerbois RP ($40) and the Marcel Trepout Napoleon ($55). To see what Cognac may have tasted like 100 years ago, try Chateau de Tariquet’s Folle Blanche ($45).
There are also Armagacs with vintage dates. Sempe and Samalens offer a few; but Francis Darroze provides the biggest range that I saw: from 1968 through 1982 ($100 to $250).
A custom that may have been borrowed from the French of Normandy (or vice versa) is the trou Gascon, or “Gascon hole.” In the middle of the holidays’ big meals, try a shot of Armagnac. It’s meant to burn a trou through the food already consumed, making room for more. Stout folk, those Gascons.
A last note: Just a few years ago, the folks in Armagnac decided to market a wine that has been dosed with Armaganc brandy, very much like Cognac’s Pineau des Charentes. It is called Floc de Gascogne. It’s a fine aperitif wine meant to be taken chilled. There is so far only one brand on the market, Alain Lalanne’s Domaine San de Guilhem ($14), for white or red.
