Gascony Armagnac

Gascony is the home of Armagnac, foie gras and d’Artagnan. With its flowers fields, endless vineyards and kilometers of empty country roads, it is a perfect and calm French countryside for a perfect country holiday.

Eating, drinking, walking, perhaps even riding and canoeing – there is plenty to do in Gascony if you are so inclined. But the spirit of the place is captured by taking it easy. A stroll here, a drink there, perhaps a little siesta in between – you soon forget what it is to be in a hurry.

But brandy lovers will be happy to discover here Armagnac stills, which have been produced in the area since the late 15th century.

There are more than 300 producers of brandy in the Armagnac appellation, and many of them are small-scale, family-run affairs, while in Cognac there are mostly renowned cognac houses.

Armagnacs are really original, distinctive, individualistic spirits. Most important of all they reflect what the French call terroir — the complex interaction of soil, climate and other factors that make unique each grape-producing region and even each single vineyard.

In general, French brandies are distilled twice before barrel aging, but most Armagnacs, however, are distilled only once. As a result, those velvet and smooth spirits seem to reflect all their rich terroir, with infinite, complex and charming flavors.

One for all and all for one!