Welcome to a Taste of Gascony

Immerse yourself in the life, culture and events of the region; sample and cook local produce; taste regional wines at the local wine festivals; celebrate and savour the yearly Armagnac distillation; travel the wine routes and discover the beauty of the ancient hilltop villages and countryside.

Gascony gives you stunning countryside and views, rolling hillsides and coloured tapestries of seasonal crops flowing with the rivers across the land. Rugged beauty means you can breathe in the silence, expand your horizons, watch sunsets and be struck by the darkness and contrasting abundance of stars.

In the mornings bustling local markets regale your senses with fresh seasonal colours, aromas  and the sound of stall holders stopping to have a convivial conversation with customers, this means you have to wait longer and with time you learn this is a good thing. Life is simple here, there is not the competition, people help each other, they barter without haggling, they have skills they share and they know that community is still important, it is how you survive in the country.

The great food is based around self sufficiency - it's the way of life, fruit and vegetables from the ‘potager', keeping a few chickens, ducks or a pig. Even if you do not keep you own pig you know someone up the road who will sell you half a one. And you only hunt and fish for things to eat, wild boar, pigeon, partridge, pheasant, every kind of deer, pike, perch and rainbow trout.

Everything is eaten fresh or conserved, fois gras, pate, confit de canard, saucisse, prunes and confit of every known fruit and vegetable are all preserves and they are the gastronomic essence of the region. Everything is worth growing, rearing, harvesting and preserving to do otherwise is criminal waste. What we do not eat ourselves we share with friends, neighbours and guests or small holders will sell from a trestle table on the local market..

Since its roman introduction viticulture has dominated the region. Vineyards large and small cover swathes of the countryside. There will be pruning, spraying, lifting, defoliating until in late September and October when half the population become involved in the vendage, picking and pressing the grape. There are a large number of independent domaines and cooperatives producing excellent wines. Armagnac is distilled from young wine from November to January and as a digestive its vintages surpass Cognac. It also provides the base for the local aperitifs Floc de Gascogne and Pousse rapierrre...

...and with our local fêtes you can join in the frivolity, celebration and excess, a break.... and then we all go back to work with the sun on our backs and it feels good.

These are the experiences that we would like to share with you throughout the seasons with our taste of Gascony breaks.

Coming soon

Coming soon

A brief introduction to Armagnac

History

Armagnac is the oldest French eau-de-vie. Its origins can be traced back to the Middle Ages where it was used as a pharmaceutical product; the "aqua ardente" (burning water) with 40 medicinal virtues as described by Maître Vital Dufour in 1310. Over time, the eau-de-vie soon became appreciated for its flavoursome taste and so its commercialization started to develop particularly in the 17th Century through the ports of Bayonne or Bordeaux with the Dutch traders. Armagnac hence became a reputed eau-de-vie throughout Europe. After the practically total destruction of the vines by phylloxera around 1878, the region was reorganised and a limited area of production agreed in accordance with the 1909 Fallières decree. Armagnac with its three regions established in 1936 was one of the first French Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC).

The Armagnac vineyards

Situated in the heart of Gascony, the Armagnac vineyards cover a large area of the Gers as well as parts of the Landes and the Lot-et-Garonne. The rivers that flow through Armagnac spread out in a fan towards the river basins of the Adour and the Garonne. The vineyards, made up of the gentle slopes in the West and the more extreme, rugged landscape in the East, are divided into three regions:

-in the West, Bas-Armagnac with its tawny sands and "boulbènes".

-in the East, the soil in Haut-Armagnac is essentially chalky and clay/limestone with very few vineyards.

-in the centre, Armagnac-Ténarèze is an "in-between" terroir where we find a strong clay/limestone influence as well as the tawny sands and some "boulbènes".

The distillation

The distillation period is a crucial time in Armagnac, where, once the fermentation is over, the distillers work during the winter months in specific distilleries or with the help of the travelling alambics that move from domaine to domaine. The Armagnac alambic traditionally used to distil the wine in the continuous method, produces a very aromatic and clear eau-de-vie.

Ageing

Once it leaves the alambic, the Armagnac is placed in "pièces", 400 litre oak barrels. Over time it becomes enriched with the flavours of the wood and its alcoholic strength diminishes with the gradual evaporation of the eau-de-vie called the "angels share". It takes on a beautiful golden colour that evolves towards mahogany. The "Maître du Chai", cellar master will decide whether the Armagnac will be blended (Hors d'Age, 25 year old...) or whether to keep it as a single vintage.

Tasting

The Armagnac is then bottled, after which it no longer ages. It is now ready to be tasted, whereupon it will reveal its fruity, floral and spicy aromas, its strength and smoothness.

This brief expert introduction to Armagnac has been provided by supporters at Bureau National Interprofessionel de Armagnac. Meanwhile more information about Armagnac can be found at the BNIA website, just click on the glass.

Our Gascony experience team are loading new pages daily and hope that you will return to find even more sections of interest to you. If you think there are things we should differently or better send us a email to info@gasconyexperience.com. A bientôt