Cognac is world renowned, and you know it belongs right up there on your shelf with the single-malt Scotch and small batch bourbon.
How about traveling just a bit farther–a few hundred miles on the map of France or a few feet down the aisle of the spirits section–to Armagnac, land of the Gascons, home of the Three Musketeers and a brandy that beat Cognac to the punch, chronologically at least.
In addition to historical interest, Armagnac has robust–some call it “rustic–flavor on its side, but its relatively smaller production that’s soaked up by the thirsty French has contributed to its subordinate role.
Wine from Armagnac has been “burnt,” or distilled, to produce brandy since the early 1400s, two centuries before Cognac. Our word for brandy comes from the Dutch brandewijn, or “burnt wine.” To make shipping easier, the Dutch merchants who exploited the area at the time heated the local wine, causing its essential character–along with the alcoholic vapors–to be captured in a concentrated liquid (about a 10- to-1 reduction). This condensed wine, so to speak, was barreled, shipped and then rehydrated at the final market. That is, until they realized what a great drink they had created after it had lain in those barrels for a bit.
But over the years, the more cosmopolitan folks in Cognac, who had better access to shipping lanes, overtook their landlocked country cousins.
Kin under the skin
Politics and public relations aside, Cognac and Armagnac share many natural similarities. Both lie in the huge southwest part of France known historically as Aquitaine, the land dowry that Eleanor brought in 1152 to the game of state-marriage to Henry Plantagenet, later King Henry II. This dowry included Bordeaux, with Cognac on the north and Armagnac to its south.
Also, both use similar grapes for the production of the base wine: Ugni blanc, folle blanche and others. Both are distilled at a lower alcohol content than most modern, high-volume spirits. This is important, because the lower the proof off the still, the more impurities, or “congeners,” the spirit retains. (To your nose and palate, this means flavor. Vodka, on the other hand, is distilled to nearly pure alcohol, which is why it is nearly flavorless.)
And although some Monlezun “black oak” still is used for aging Armagnac, most of it is aged in Limousin oak casks, just as Cognac is.
Enter the differences. Armagnac is a much smaller area than Cognac: 37,000 acres to more than 200,000, which is a major reason it is not as widely seen on U.S. shelves.
Being so far inland, Armagnac has a warmer, less maritime climate. Though the prime vineyards of Cognac grow on a chalky base, those of Armagnac make do on sand and clay. And even though the grapes are similar, the ugni blanc grapes that account for 95 percent of Cognac’s vineyards have just more than half the acreage in Armagnac. Fifteen percent of the acreage has folle blanche (prized in Cognac) and baco blanc (or “bacco,” locally) with dribbles of colombard and blanquette.
But the type of still and how it is used contributes greatly to the difference. In Cognac, the law mandates a double distillation using the alembic, or classic pot still. This produces a more refined, less “impure” spirit than that of Armagnac, most of which is distilled only once using a very small version of a continuous still. The result is what is called the “rustic” character of Armagnac, the kind that gave rise to the trou Gascogne. This was the practice at the once-huge local meals (not too many skinny Gascons) of stopping in the middle of umpteen courses and throwing back a shot or three of Armagnac to burn a trou or hole in the stomach to accommodate the remaining courses.
Tasting the differences
Armagnac is definitely for people who like a more full-flavored spirit, especially when you get beyond the entry-level VSOPs and into the longer-aged XOs and Napoleons and the vintages. (That’s another difference: Except for the classic old firm of Hine, very few Cognacs are vintage-dated. There are dozens of vintage-dated Armagnacs for sale in the Chicago area, some back to the early 1900s.)
When shopping, you’ll find that many Armagnac labels display the term “Bas Armagnac,” or Lower Armagnac, to indicate that its contents are exclusively from vineyards in that one zone. This doesn’t mean lower quality; in fact, most observers deem brandies from this zone to be of the highest quality (the other two, rarely seen here, are Haut Armagnac and Tenareze and represent only 2 percent and 28 percent, respectively, of the acreage). Others will simply state “Armagnac” and indicate they are blends from different zones.
Start with a VSOP: They cost about $25 to $35. If you like them but want more depth, complexity and mellowness, move up to the XOs, Napoleons and Hors d’Age. These will cost you double or more. Personal favorites include Chateau de Tariquet, Loubere, Darroze and Grassa, but Cles des Ducs, Larresingle, Sempe and Samalens are more widely available. The vintages start at $60.
Still need a reason to move from Cognac to Armagnac? How about two: You are getting older stuff, and the French might know something about brandy. The producers of both brandies keep records of their stocks; that is, they know how much brandy is aging in the various cellars and have put that number in relation to total sales. The higher the ratio, the older the stocks and the more likely you are to get an older spirit at the point of sale. In Cognac, it’s almost 8 years of stocks, in Armagnac it’s closer to 11 years.
You’ve heard the phrase “50 million Frenchmen can’t be wrong?” Well, there’s something to that. The French drink less than 10 percent of all the Cognac sold. With Armagnac, almost 50 percent is enjoyed by the home team.
Lastly, the Gascons have followed Cognac’s lead in the production of a great aperitif wine. In Cognac they call it Pineau des Charentes, while in Armagnac it is known as Floc de Gascogne. Both are made from local grape juice hit with brandy so as to abort fermentation of the juice. The result: a mildly sweet drink usually taken chilled. It’s a little like port only more delicate.
