From the category archives:

Armagnac

The Nose knows: understanding the smells of Armagnac

March 7, 2011

Anyone who reads The Vine Route knows of my fondness for Armagnac. The world’s oldest brandy (2010 marked its 700th year of existence) came to my attention when we moved to Toulouse in southwestern France. Armagnac is made in the Gers and Landes departments (the historic region of Gascony), which are just west of here. [...]

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Domaine du Tariquet: civil(ized) disobedience

February 12, 2010

There are some 800 Armagnac producers in the southwestern France region of the same name that is located to the west of Toulouse and about 150km (100 miles) south of Bordeaux. Only several hundred bottle their Armagnac (the others sell their brandy to négociants, who buy in bulk and then resell it), and of these [...]

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Marquis de Montesquiou: A blueblooded Armagnac

January 30, 2010

Marquis de Montesquiou, which is a member of the Pernod Group, is one of France’s most illustrious Armagnac houses. As pedigrees go, you can’t get much more blueblood than this. The de Montesquious are one of the oldest families in France; its oldest members, the Counts of Fezensac (who ruled over much of historic Gascony, [...]

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Château Laubade’s Ali Baba treasure trove of Armagnac

January 16, 2010

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, [...]

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No hip-hop bling for France’s oldest Brandy

August 14, 2009

Armagnac has been long overshadowed by France’s other grape-distilled brandy, Cognac. While Cognac has an image of elegance and sophistication (along with elevated status among the young and urban, thanks to its mention in some hit hip-hop songs), Armagnac has been saddled with what The New York Times wine critic Eric Asimov defined as a [...]

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