Nace un nuevo brandy

	December 16, 2013 Artisanal Armagnac from the South of France It’s time to pay attention to France’s “other” brandy Now that evenings have turned chilly, you might be thinking of warm layers, firesides, and maybe something to warm your insides, like one of France’s top brandies. No, not Cognac. We’re talking about Cognac’s less-glamorous cousin, Armagnac, a brandy from Gascony in southwestern France. Although Cognac may be more well-known (and more rapped about on the radio), Armagnac’s small producers create artisanal brandies with a loyal cult-like following. Think of Armagnac and Cognac like Los Angeles and San Francisco; one big, glamorous and sometimes a bit over-priced; one smaller, funkier, and with more bang for your buck. Brandy is made by fermenting grapes into wine, then distilling the wine into a spirit, which is then aged in oak barrels. Armagnac has stronger alcohol than Cognac, but is also more fragrant, full-bodied and robust. This is partly to do with the grapes used—Armagnac is made up of mostly four white grapes: ugni blanc, folle blanc, colombard and baco blanc, while Cognac just uses the neutral-tasting ugni blanc—and partly to do with the distillation process. Cognacs are double-distilled for smoother alcohol, while Armagnacs are distilled only once, to keep the spirit flavorful. When the spirit emerges from the still, it is water-white and doesn’t yet contain many of Armagnac’s signature flavors. The color and flavor are added by long periods of aging in French oak barrels. The best Armagnacs can have characteristics of prunes, figs, dried apricots, earth, caramel, vanilla, roasted nuts and toffee. How will you know which Armagnac to buy? The label designations of VS, VSOP and XO are indications of how long the youngest wine in the blend was aged in barrel, with VS representing the youngest blends (1-3 years in barrel) up to XO, which can be over 20 years. Since Armagnacs don’t improve with age once they’ve been bottled, you don’t need to worry about saving the bottle once you’ve bought it—it’s good to go! If you do store it for a while, make sure to store the bottle upright; prolonged contact between the brandy and the cork can spoil the bottle. Some of our favorite producers include: Larressingle Sempé Darroze Château de Ravignan Domaine D'Ognoas Have a comment about Armagnac? Tell us here. Photo Credit: Luxuo.