Château Laubade’s Ali Baba treasure trove of Armagnac

"Open sesame..." This huge slab of marble stands in front of "Le Paradis," a small, round room that contains a treasure trove of vintage Armagnac.

Château de Laubade is part of the Lesgourgues family of wine properties that also includes prestigious estates in Bordeaux, Graves, Madiran and Uruguay. Maurice Lesgourgues purchased the 120-hectare (almost 300-acre) Bas Armagnac property in 1974. At that time, there were only 40 hectares (around 100 acres) of vines on the property. His son, Jean-Jacques Lesgourgues, deciding to orient the property totally towards Armagnac, planted the Ugni Blanc, Baco, Colombard and Folle Blanche vines that are used to produce the wine that is distilled into Armagnac. It is now one of the world’s largest producers of Armagnac, with 105 hectares (260 acres) of vines, seven different chai that contain 2,800 barrels (over a 16-year supply, based on their yearly Armagnac sales), and the recipient of numerous international spirits competition medals. In 2001, Lesgourgues passed on the operation of his company to his five children. It’s currently run by two of them, Arnaud and Denis Lesgourgues.

Each of the property’s 2,800 barrels is a work of art, handcrafted out of wide-grained, black oak that permits the proper transfer of oxygen and tannins needed to develop the flavor nuances in mature Armagnac. Château de Laubade has its own cooper on site, who fabricates around 100 new barrels each year. The wood comes from 100-to-150-year-old trees, and only approximately 10% of the tree is suitable for making the barrel staves. After air-drying for several years, the staves are hand-planed and assembled, using just metal hoops, into 400L barrels. The cooper then toasts the inside of the barrel with a slow-burning fire. This toasting is critical in giving the Armagnac its wonderful color, and it activates the vanilla scents and other flavors in the wood that ultimately determine its complexity, depth and balance.

Just one of 2,800 treasure chests.

When first placed in the barrel, the Armagnac is clear eau-de-vie. Slowly, the oak does its work, imparting the tannin that turns the spirit a golden color. As the Armagnac ages, evaporation occurs at a rate of 1-3% loss per year. This is where having seven different chai at the Château de Laubade becomes important. Each chai has its own particular temperature and humidity, altering the rate of evaporation and aging of the Armagnac. And it’s not just the evaporation that differs; depending on the humidity, the alcohol content of the Armagnac will be naturally reduced by as much as ½ % per year.

During the aging process, the Armagnac may be also periodically aerated to increase oxygen contact with the spirit. And the Armagnac is constantly monitored and tasted. At certain intervals, the barrels may be moved from chai to chai to slow or speed up the aging. Finally, the Armagnac is transferred from the newer barrels to older ones that provide a more neutral, controlled aging environment. As it approaches its 10th year of aging, the Armagnac has acquired an attractive amber color, the aromatic flavors derived from the wood have become integrated with the fruit in the alcohol, and the natural sweetness is fully evident. For vintage Armagnac, the aging process typically continues from 12 to 25 years. Fruit flavors preserved in the spirit thrive, the Armagnac becomes richer and more complex, and the all-important finish lengthens.

"On ira tous au Paradis..."

If this all sounds like alchemy, it is. Visual evidence of this wondrous transformation of grapes being transferred into wine, into eau-de-vie, into Armagnac is found at the end of one of the chai on the property. A small, dark, round room, known as Le Paradis (“Heaven”), which looks like something out of an Arabian Nights tale, contains dozens of large glass bottles called Dames Jeanne, or “Demi Johns.” At about age 40, Armagnac no longer benefits from wood aging, so it is then transferred to glass, to await bottling. The dozens of bottles here—the youngest dating from around 1930, the oldest from 1888—represent a literal treasure-trove. They are coded for secrecy, so that only the property owners and the cellar master know their exact ages.

Ars magna

In this silent shrine to the estate’s finest vintages, the Demi Johns shimmer and shine, glowing as if the brandy inside was on fire. Maybe the medieval people who supposedly gave Armagnac its name from the Latin term Ars Magna (“Great Art”) were correct—great Armaganc is something divine.

Tagged as: Armagnac