Category: The History of Armagnac

Armagnac, as the locals invariably inform even the most casual visitor, is at once the oldest and youngest spirit in France. Oldest because it was first distilled in the middle of the 15^th century and youngest because the Armagnaçaise are still arguing over how it should be made. President de Gaulle talked about the problems of governing a country which made 300 different cheeses. Armagnac has as many ways of making brandy.

The region of Armagnac has always been a very special example of that elusive concept, la France profounde, even now well away from the madding crowds – and their motorways. They are essentially Gascons, famous as swaggerers, soldiers (d’Artagnam was the most famous), lovers of rich food (truffles and Fois Gras), and drink. Their homeland is as near a rural paradise as makes no difference, gentle, fair, fertile countryside as yet unspoilt by urban sprawls. It is tucked away a hundred miles south of Bordeaux stretching back from the sands of the Landes through a series of gentle valleys with none of the grim monoculture which marks other vineyards, but providing a most agreeable and varied vision of rural bliss.

That was its attraction – but the corollary was its unsuitability as a production centre for an internationally traded spirit. Armagnac was and still is a reflection of French individualism, while still a deeply united community in which the merchants are, for the most part, members of the same class as the growers. Unlike Cognac, there has never been a class war in Armagnac. By themselves individualism, change and experiment would not be of interest if the brandy was not exciting to drink. It is better than that; earthier than cognac, but, at its best, offering a closeness to nature, a depth of fruit and warmth that even the finest cognacs cannot match. Because the choice of three grapes and two methods of distillation, the brandy’s potential character is enormously varied.

As early as the 16^th century, when the English had been chased from France for more than a century, we find the expression Vin du Cognac. Wines shipped along the Charente from the town of Cognac were traded, initially for salt but later for timber, furs and wools which had been shipped from England, Ireland and Holland.

The Coastal areas around La Rochelle were already developing vines as a stable crop and further south in Bordeaux the trade in wine was more advanced. Gradually vines were planted further inland in the Bois or woody areas usually on the slopes since the flatter land was still favoured for growing grain.

The term Vin de Ritzel or wines from La Rochelle was generally more favoured than the Vin de Cognac which had to be shipped a considerable distance from Cognac along the Charente by barge to Rocheforte and then onto La Rochelle. The wines were often found to be rancid due partly to being kept in cellars by the negociants until they could be shipped and partly to their long journey to the port for shipping to the more northerly ports. As a result they were condensed by distillation, a skill learned from the Dutch (who were skilled coppersmiths) and famous for their gins. The resulting water clear spirit became known by the traders as Eau de Vie or Water of Life.

In 1576 a local historian, J Corlieu emphasised that the “Grandes Champagnes de Segonzac” produced great quantities of fine wines that were shipped down the river all over the world. A century later these emerged as some of the best wines for distillation into condensed wine or eau de vie.