After Chateau Peyros we headed north for a 45 minute drive to Chateau Laubade in the Western part of Armagnac (Bas Armagnac). We were greeted by the caretaker Gilbert and he showed us to our wonderful room in the Chateau. Afterwards, we enjoyed a wonderful dinner in the nearby town of Nogaro in a small Restaurant "Solenca" -
read my review of the Restaurant Solenca here. Yes, we were in the heart of Duck Country in Gascony....Fois Gras, Rillard de Carnard, Goose Confit etc., etc, .
The next morning we met with Mr. Francois Lasportes, the Cellar Master of Chateau Laubade who gave us a very personal, informative tour of Chateau Laubade. He explained the entire process of Armagnac production from growing the vines and fruit to storing Armagnac and then finally the art of blending.
The difference between Armagnac and Cognac is, that the latter is made only from one grape variety: Uni Blanc and undergoes double distillation - great for younger vintages. If you want to enjoy something more complex then choose Armagnac which is made from Uni Blanc, French Colombard, Baco and Folle Blanche grapes....it undergoes a continuous distillation and is stored for a long time in oak barrels, then blended. I encourage you to visit the website of
Chateau Laubade and watch the short video (sublink "video")- it gives you a tour and wonderful inside about Armagnac from Chateau Laubade.
Armagnac is aged up to 40 years in barrels (losing about 2% of it's volume annually). After 40 years the oak will not contribute anything positive anymore to the Armagnac (Brandy) and it is then remove to large glass balls which will prevents evaporation. We were able to visit one of the 'balloon rooms" at the cellar.
By about 10.30 AM Francois asked us if we were ready for some tasting. We enjoyed several single vintages when Francois asked me what year I was born: 1951! ...he bought out a bottle of 1951 that was a personal highlight for me to try.
But to be fair, I must say that I liked much more the blends, where the art of the Cellar Master comes to show...the EXTRA was magnificent, all blended from Armagnac that are 40-70 years old. the oldest bottle on display in the tasting salon was a bottle from 1868 - still unopened.
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| Art Work on the grounds |
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| Barrel Cellar |
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| The old copper still |
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| Art work on the grounds |
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| This is where the Brandy comes out of the still |
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| No oak no color, mote color more oak |
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| The "balloons" |
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