Armagnac Flashcards
Armagnac: History.
- Despite Cognac’s long predominance in volume and sales, France’s first brandy was Armagnac. It was widely traded and highly prized but being located so far inland it ultimately struggled to compete with Cognac’s better access to trade routes.
- Phylloxera hit Armagnac hard, and by 1937 only 5,000hL of spirits were being made. Though volumes recovered after WWII, poor quality examples began to ruin its reputation. Today, the volume is close to 18,000hL, a fraction of that of Cognac, but quality has been greatly improved.
- Structure of trade very different than in Cognac:
- No large dominant producers but a wide range of small merchant houses and some small estate producers.
- Grape growers will sell their spirit to the house and many still rely on travelling distillers to complete the task.
- Sales of spirit older than VSOP (XO or vintage) are more important in Armagnac than in Cognac. Account for nearly 40% of sales.
Armagnac: Grape Varieties.
• Armagnac producers work with a different set of options:
- They have access to a wider range of grape varieties.
- They distill to a lower abv.
- They are able to make unaged brandies too.
As a result, the brandies of Armagnac can be more intensely aromatic and full bodied than Cognacs and the diversity within the region is greater.
• 10 grape varieties are permitted, but 4 play an important role:
- Ugni Blanc: most widely planted variety with 55% of plantings.
- Baco: 32% of plantings. Variety unique to Armagnac and produces spirit with a rich, earthy, prune-like character.
- Colombard: can have a spicy, peppery edge.
- Folle Blanche: dominant floral characteristics.
• The mix of grapes gives producers a wider range of flavors to work and experiment with. Each producer has its own preferred blend. For ex, Tariquet specializes in Folle Blanche; Chateau Labade produces a range of expressions that show off the unique characteristics of individual grapes.
Armagnac: Grape growing and Winemaking.
• There are 3 crus in Armagnac:
- Bas-Armagnac: represents the majority of plantings.
- Ténareze: 2nd most planted area.
- Haut-Armagnac: only a handful of vineyards still produce Armagnac there as it is more economic to make and sell wine.
• Hard to exactly pinpoint the role played by a given Cru to determine the style of a particular Armagnac (reasons: importance of grape varieties, modest scale of grape growing, very varied landscape).
Although many producers don’t own vineyards, their selection is made to suit the house style of the spirit they wish to produce rather than a desire to express the character of a particular area.
• In winery, focus on careful handling, without use of SO2 (same as in Cognac). The grape varieties are fermented separately so that blenders have the wildest range of material to work with. The wines are 8-10% abv.
Armagnac: Distillation.
- Must be distilled to 52-72.4% abv. Most Cognac producers aim for a strength close to 72.4%, while Armagnacais make lower strength spirits that are typically less than 60% abv. Thus new-make Armagnac is intensely flavored.
- The still of choice in Armagnac is a unique column still known as the alambic Armagnacais, ideally suited for making a low-strength spirit. Double pot still as used in Cognac is permitted but is only used by three distillers.
- The alambic is a single column still that can be run continuously. It is made up of:
- A burner (either wood or gas).
- A column (limited to a max of 17 plates).
- A wine heater.
- A condenser.
• Grape varieties are typically distilled separately. The still doesn’t have to be stopped to achieve this. Once the wine from the first grape is used up, the distiller switches over immediately to a second grape.
• While operating this column no cut is made for heads or tails, though the liquid residue not making it out of the column will be drained off periodically from the base of the still.
The skill in using this still is maintaining a constant temp at the top plate, in order to ensure that the characteristics of the spirit leaving the still remain constant too (can be done by adjusting the intensity of heat; but quicker and easier way is by adjusting the flow of wine into the still).
Armagnac: Maturation, Blending and Finishing.
• The new-make spirits will typically undergo a similar ageing regime to Cognac: short period of time in new oak barriers before being transferred to older barrels to complete the ageing process.
- European oak is the preferred choice. A local oak from the Monlezun forest (black oak) is sometimes used for its unique aromatic qualities.
- The other wood used is from the larger commercial French oak forests of Troncais and Limousin.
- Glass demijohns are also used to preserve very old spirits.
•Once the blends are made up, they can homogenize in large oak vats before bottling and sale. If necessary, the spirit is slowly reduced in strength during this final period often using Petites Eaux.
The exception to this process is Blanche Armagnac (introduced in 2005). This must be stored 3 months to allow time for it to be gradually reduced in strength for bottling (held in inert stainless steel vessels).
