Jason Wilson: Exploring the World of Armagnac

Armagnac is perhaps the most wine-like of spirits, and so it is a fitting beverage to start with for those who aren't quite sure it is worth it to venture out of the world of wine. This excerpt from Jason Wilson , originally published on Vinous sets the scene and gives you the basics so you can confidently try sipping something new. Cheers! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- "If you’re the sort of person who enjoys bourbon or rye or even Scotch, there’s never been a better moment to give Armagnac a try. Producers are using older and older brandies in their blends, creating great spirits that offer notable complexity and value. New regulations, released in April by the BNIA (Bureau National Interprofessionnel de l'Armagnac) have streamlined the age categories, making the spirit slightly easier to understand. Still, Armagnac remains a bit of a mystery in the English-speaking world, for various reasons. First, you cannot tiptoe around a basic fact: Ours is not a brandy-drinking culture. When people talk about brandy, a famous line from Samuel Johnson is often quoted: “Claret is the liquor for boys; port for men; but he who aspires to be a hero must drink brandy.” By Dr. Johnson’s definition, America is fairly lacking in heroism. Sadly, those who dismiss brandy miss out on unimaginably delicious nectars full of history and craftsmanship. Armagnac: Cognac’s Country Cousin Armagnac exists in a different world. Gascony is a humbler land of foie gras and confit, where ducks and geese outnumber people. The place is notoriously quirky, provincial and ornery, without big train stations or super-highways to make travel easy. A little over six million bottles of Armagnac are produced worldwide each year, with less than a half million reaching our shores. France is still Armagnac’s top market, followed by the UK, U.S., Russia, and China. Armagnac’s total production is a drop in the bucket compared with Cognac, which annually sells 160 million bottles worldwide. Perhaps this is why Armagnac is often referred to as Cognac’s “hick cousin.” Some might also say that Armagnac is to Cognac as the wines of Southwest France are to Bordeaux. This isn’t entirely accurate, and Gascons bristle at notions like this, but Armagnac does bring a more rustic, robust, burly character to the glass. While it can have amazing finesse and elegance, it is an affable, gregarious spirit. What Armagnac also possesses is authenticity, history and tradition. It dates back more than 700 years – predating Cognac by a couple hundred years – making it one of the world’s oldest distilled spirits. The reason I say that Armagnac is the most wine-like of spirits, is that – unlike most spirits – factors like terroir and grape variety significantly impact what’s in the bottle. Armagnac consists of more than 500 grower-producers, and 300 growers that sell to one of six cooperatives or 40 négociant houses. The AOC is split into three sub-regions: Bas-Armagnac, Ténarèze, and Haut-Armagnac. There is also a separate AOC for Blanche Armagnac, an unaged eau de vie, which was created in 2005 as an effort to reach a cocktail/mixology audience. For our purposes here, we’ll be dealing with the aged Armagnac as a neat spirit." For more, read the complete article on Vinous . ---------- One of the world's preeminent experts on spirits, Jason Wilson is the author of two books, the recently published Godforsaken Grapes : A Slightly Tipsy Journey through the World of Strange, Obscure, and Underappreciated Wine and Boozehound: On The Trail of the Rare, the Obscure, and the Overrated in Spirits. His articles have appeared in a diverse range of publications.