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Gastronomy in the Gers

Armagnac

Like Cognac the name of Armagnac is protected by law.

The production area is about 120 kilometers south of Clarente, further from the coast.

Until the French revolution Armagnac was a province of France, the area is now largely part of the departement Gers but also parts of the departements Lot-et-Garonne and Landes.
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
Grape species

Unitl 1941 it wasn't arranged by law which grape species were allowed for distilling Armagnac. Thus in older documentation you will not get a description of the grape types.

Currently ten species have been admitted by law, of which only three are important enough to be mentioned here:

The most important is still the "folle blanche" (in error this is sometimes called the "picquepoul" in the gers), next the "ugni blanc" is gaining field..

The third one worth mentioning is the "colombard".

Production area

The production area is sub-divided in three areas of origin, each which their own specifics::

• In the west "Bas-Armagnac", aka Armagnac-noir
   
• East of that Ténarèze, half enclosed by
   
• the biggest area of the three Haut-Armagnacaka Armagnac-blanc.

Of all the Armagnac produced  50 percent is from Bas-Armagnac, 45 percent from Ténarèze. Only 5 percent is from Haut-Armagnac.

Bas-Armagnac

is seen as the best quality, the name Bas Armagnac can also be found of bottle which contents are only partly from the Bas Armagnac area. The addition "Noir" (black-dark) to the name of the area is probably because of the dense woods on the hilly terrain. The soil consists of sand and clay, sometimes gravel. This is excellent soil for the "folle blanche" . Approx. 10.000 hectare, near the city of Eauze, are covered with grape vines. The distillate is judged as very subtle, with a taste reminding of prunes. 

A further sub-division of Bas-Armagnac qualities is:

• Grand Bas-Armagnac (the best)
   
• Moyen or Fin Bas-Armagnac

and

• Petit Bas-Armagnac.

Ténarèze

This separately named Armagnac also has a taste reminding of prunes, like the Bas-Armagnac. However the smell reminds of wild violets, more friendly, less rich, warm, caressing. Maybe we can say that a Ténarèze is more adequate for the modern consumer.

The time for the gentlemen's club, smoking room, heavy discussions in a separate room for enjoying the after-dinner drinks seems to be over. That was where the more robust Armagnac had its place.

The soil of Ténarèze is mainly clay, with less woods than the Bas-Armagnac, flat country.

A Ténarèze needs less time to mature than the other two types.

In Ténarkze is the city Condom, centre of the Armagnac trade. It also has an Armagnacmuseum.

Haut-Armagnac

Only 5 percent of the Armagnac is from Haute-Armagnac. On a chalky soil, about 500 hectares of grape vines that can by law be used to distill Armagnac.

Here "ugni blanc" is quickly gaining area.

More red grapes than withe grapes can be found here. However, they can't be used for the appelation Armagnac. They will end up in simple red and white table wines, or will be eaten as grapes. 

Haut-Armagnac can be used in the naming on a bottle of Armagnac, however that is not often done, because it is seen as the lesser quality of the three types.

The Haut-Armagnac is sometimes named Armagnac-blanc, because of the (white) chalky soil.

Trade

To indicate the time used for maturing the following symbols are used:

An interesting adventure can be to buy from a "bouilleur de cru", the wine-grower, who personally distills wine form his own grapes. This can lead to surprising finds, especially for old Armagnac, sometimes having matured over 20 years in the cask.