Bas-Armagnac ยท single vintage

Armagnac, by the vintage.

Single-vintage, single-still, single-domaine. The oldest brandy region in France. Gascon, country, generous, undervalued โ€” the brandy you stash for the kid's 21st birthday.

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Two sub-regions

Bas-Armagnac, or Tรฉnarรจze.

The estates

Producer shortlist.

D
France ยท Bas-Armagnac ยท since 1893 Delord

Started by a travelling distiller in 1893. Prosper Delord set up Maison Delord at Lannepax in Gascony; his sons Gaston and Georges established Delord Freres and built the export trade through to the United States. Jacques Delord (Gaston's son) took over in 1963; his brother Pierre joined a decade later. Four generations on, the house is still family-run.

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D
France ยท Bas-Armagnac ยท since 1974 Darroze

Single-vintage, single-estate, cask-strength โ€” that has been the Darroze model since Francis Darroze, sommelier-turned-producer from a Michelin-starred Landes restaurant family, set the house up in 1974 in Roquefort. Rather than blending Armagnacs from multiple estates, the house buys finished Bas-Armagnac from around 30 small producers and ages each separately in the Darroze cellars at Roquefort and Labastide d'Armagnac.

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C
France ยท Bas-Armagnac ยท since 1832 Castarede

France's oldest Maison d'Armagnac, established in 1832 by Jules Nismes and his wife Elisabeth Delclou as Jules Nismes Delclou & Cie. The Castarede family โ€” ennobled by Louis XVIII in 1818 โ€” gave the company its current name and coat of arms; Baron Haussmann, then sub-prefect of Nerac, encouraged the family into the Armagnac trade. The cellars at Pont-de-Bordes (Lavardac) by the Baise river were joined in 1979 by the Chateau de Maniban in Mauleon-d'Armagnac.

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T
France ยท Bas-Armagnac ยท since 1683 (estate); 1912 (Grassa family ownership) Tariquet

Folle Blanche โ€” Armagnac's historically dominant variety, largely replaced by hardier Ugni Blanc after phylloxera โ€” is the distinguishing focus here. The Grassa family reintroduced it at Domaine Tariquet in the 1980s. Armagnac has been made at Chateau du Tariquet since 1683, in the heart of Bas-Armagnac near Eauze; the Grassas acquired the estate in 1912 and have run it across four generations.

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C
France ยท Bas-Armagnac Comte de Lamaestre

Comte de Lamaestre specialises in single-vintage millesime bottlings drawn from older Armagnac stocks. Caravan carries vintages from 1960 through the late 1970s โ€” releases drawn from cask stocks aged decades on lees.

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G
France ยท Bas-Armagnac ยท since 1865 Gelas

Philippe Gelas (fourth generation) has run the firm since 2001. The Vic-Fezensac house was set up in 1865 by Baptiste Gelas โ€” son of master cooper Guillaume Gelas, who handed the business across to focus on Armagnac trading and ageing โ€” though family lineage on the property traces back to 1246. The range runs from entry blends through to the 60-year Decades expressions, plus a deep vintage line covering harvests from 1959 to 2005.

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B
France ยท Bas-Armagnac ยท since 1807 Boingnรจres

Sixth-generation Folle Blanche specialists. The same family has farmed Domaine Boingneres since 1807, devoting the majority of its 50-acre Bas-Armagnac vineyard to the difficult, aromatic variety that traditionally defined the region.

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How to shop Armagnac

Three moves.

01

Single-vintage is Armagnac's signature

Most Cognac is blended across years; Bas-Armagnac houses bottle the year on the label. Darroze stocks decades back to 1955.

02

Single column-still distillation

Armagnac is distilled ONCE through a column still (not twice in a pot like Cognac). Richer, more textured, less polished โ€” that's the point.

03

Buy the year that matters

Birth years, wedding years, kids' graduations. Stocked for 30+ years if kept right. Phone us about specific years.

Caravan's pours

If you're writing onecocktail list this season.

Six bottles that cover the range โ€” gateway, sipper, cellar, presentation piece. Real prices, real producers.

Cellar

Castarรจde

XO Tรฉnarรจze

Oldest Maison d'Armagnac (founded 1832). Tรฉnarรจze structure โ€” drier, more linear than Bas-Armagnac.

$185View