ARMAGNAC AND GASCONY WINE

Armagnac has been around much longer than cognac. The drink is also even more rustic than cognac because it is distilled only once, unlike cognac, which undergoes that process twice. Cognac and armagnac do use practically the same grapes: armagnac is made from ugni blanc and colombard, among others. Domaine du Tariquet has now also made popular wine from these very grapes. Because both armagnac and wine are the core business of Château and Domaine du Tariquet in Gascony. TEXT CHARLOTTE VAN ZUMMEREN

For many, cognac may be the name for French grape-based spirits, but armagnac has a much longer history. Already well before the fourteenth century, a distillate was made near Toulouse, the history of cognac starts a bit later, in the sixteenth century. Armagnac owes its real commercial development to our own country. The English, who then ruled Aquitaine, amiably banned all wines other than those from Bordeaux from using the Garonne for transport.

Curious

In response, the Dutch came up with the idea of promoting the distillation of the wines of Gascony in order to circumvent the English embargo. And so the production of armagnac developed further. At the Château du Tariquet, papers from 1683 were found showing that taxes had to be paid to pay for Versailles. Of course, this prestigious palace of Louis XIV had to be paid for from somewhere. That makes one curious and an appointment with the largest and oldest family producer in Gascony is easily made. It is the Grassa family of Château - when it comes to armagnacs - and Domaine - for the wines - du Tariquet.

Alambic

On a water-cold morning, we drive in a quiet and slightly dull landscape to Eauzé in the Bas-Armagnac where Tariquet is based. Viticulturist and co-director Armin Grassa and export manager Julien Ducos will receive us. We drive onto the property and the first thing we see are small historic buildings. We walk a little further and then smell the tantalising scent of wood in a fire oven. In this refurbished beautiful building, a copper alambic armagnac runs full time at this time of year - from mid-November to the end of January with a run-out to the end of March. It is distillation that is the order of the day. Behind this is a huge dark building on the right and a gigantic winery with tanks of 200,000 litres of still wine on the left. This is not even all. Armin Grassa: 'We don't have all the armagnac stored here. We have six thousand barriques lying around, spread over six cellars'. Grassa and Ducos run

hereafter along on the grounds.

Constantly in motion

Founder of Tariquet is Jean-Pierre Artaud, who was succeeded by his son-in-law Pierre Grassa. His son Yves started making still wines in the 1970s. In doing so, he was the first in the area. His Classic was and is a low-alcohol wine of 10.5% made from ugni blanc and colombard. These are the two basic grapes of armagnac. 'Everyone declared him crazy, but this Classic did win awards: as early as 1982 Wine of the Year and a medal in the London Wine Competition,' Armin says of his father Yves. Tariquet now makes nine million bottles of wine a year - nine white wines and two rosés. Corporate Communication Manager André Koopman of Dutch importer LFE says he knows of no company as innovative as Tariquet: 'Every time I come here something has changed. They are constantly on the move.' Grassa, meanwhile, shows off new spray machines, which use less pesticides due to their 'closed' nature - the vine is literally enveloped. Nature is close to the heart of the Grassa family - brother Rémy is also in the business.

Read the full story in #WINELIFE#56. Order it here.

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