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Darroze

Region Bas-Armagnac (Roquefort, Landes)Country France

Producer profile

Francis Darroze grew up working at his family's two-star Michelin restaurant in the Bas-Armagnac region — his father Jean Darroze was the chef known as 'King Jean' of Landes gastronomy. From the age of 15, Francis accompanied his father on visits to local Armagnac producers in search of quality bottles for the restaurant cellar. By 1974, after years of sommelier-side sourcing experience, he set up Darroze in Roquefort as a producer-trader specialising in single-vintage, single-estate, cask-strength Bas-Armagnac — a deliberate break from the prevailing model of large-house multi-estate blending.

Bas-Armagnac is the south-western sub-appellation of the broader Armagnac AOC and is recognised as the source of the most cellar-worthy expressions of the spirit. Darroze sources finished spirit from approximately 30 small Bas-Armagnac estates and ages each separately under their own estate name — Domaine de Bellair, Domaine de Cravanceres, Domaine de Gaube, Domaine de la Gardenne, Domaine de Piheron, Domaine de la Poste — preserving each estate's distinctive character through extended barrel ageing in Roquefort and Labastide d'Armagnac. The bottlings are cask-strength (typically 40–50% ABV) and unfiltered, releasing vintage spirit from the cellars.

The Darroze range is organised around two principles: single-vintage estate releases (each labelled with the source estate and the year of distillation, ranging from the late 1940s to recent vintages) and the Grands Assemblages blends (multi-estate blends matured for specified periods — 12, 20, 30, 40 years). Marc Darroze, Francis's son, joined in 1996 as a trained oenologist and now leads the business. The current cellar holds a deep stock of older vintages, with releases of 60-year-old and older Armagnacs appearing periodically in the catalogue.

Current producer range.

Darroze

Francis Darroze 1980 Rimaillo Grand Bas-Armagnac 40.9% 200ml

Francis Darroze 1988 Lahitte Grand Bas-Armagnac 47.5% 200ml

Francis Darroze 1978 Le Tuc Grand Bas-Armagnac 48.5% 700ml

Francis Darroze 1983 De Guillemoute Grand Bas-Armagnac 46% 700ml

Francis Darroze 1982 Lahitte Grand Bas-Armagnac 48% 200ml

Francis Darroze 1989 Bellair Grand Bas-Armagnac 50% 200ml

Francis Darroze 1992 Monturon Grand Bas-Armagnac 40.5% 200ml

Francis Darroze 1980 Bellair Grand Bas-Armagnac 48.5% 700ml

Francis Darroze 1987 Monturon Ténarèze Ténarèze 47.7% 700ml

Francis Darroze 1981 Bellair Grand Bas-Armagnac 49% 700ml

Francis Darroze 1989 Bellair Grand Bas-Armagnac 50% 700ml

Francis Darroze 2003 Martin Grand Bas-Armagnac 53% 700ml

Francis Darroze 1990 Tucom Grand Bas-Armagnac 48.5% 700ml

Francis Darroze 1982 Bellair Grand Bas-Armagnac 48.5% 700ml

Francis Darroze 1991 La Boubée Ténarèze Ténarèze 48% 700ml

Francis Darroze 1993 Père Grand Bas-Armagnac 50% 700ml

Francis Darroze 1995 Salie Grand Bas-Armagnac 48.5% 700ml

Francis Darroze 1979 Domaine Le Tuc Grand Bas-Armagnac 49% 700ml

Francis Darroze 1976 Bellair Grand Bas-Armagnac 45% 700ml

Francis Darroze 1974 Tucom Grand Bas-Armagnac 46% 700ml

Francis Darroze 1984 Le Pouy Grand Bas-Armagnac 42% 700ml

Francis Darroze L'Unique Assemblage Bas-Armagnac 45% 700ml

Francis Darroze 1965 Serrade Grand Bas-Armagnac 48% 700ml

Francis Darroze 1975 Bellair Grand Bas-Armagnac 45.5% 700ml

Producer answers.