Briat 1996 Bas Armagnac
IMPORTER NOTES:
OVERVIEW: “Vintage Armagnac distilled at Château de Briat in Mauvezin-d’Armagnac; Appellation Bas-Armagnac Contrôlée; Cépages: 100% Folle Blance; Distilled in 1996 on a wood-fired alambic Armagnacais (short copper column still); Aged in a combination of new and used 420-liter French oak barrels; 44% ABV”
ABOUT THE PRODUCER: The Château de Briat, in the small village of Mauvezin-d’Armagnac in Gascony’s Bas-Armagnac region, has a long and impressive history. Built in 1540, it first served as the hunting manor for Queen Jeanne d’Albret. The Queen’s son, Henri de Navarre (later Henri IV, King of France), often stayed in the castle. In 1587, he gave it to one of his fellow officers as a reward for saving his life in battle.
After changing ownership several times, the domaine was taken over by Baron Raoul de Pichon-Longueville in 1864. The Pichon-Longueville family already owned the famous vineyard of the same name in Pauillac, and the family used the Briat estate as a country retreat while continuing the château’s tradition of distilling a percentage of the harvest every year for Armagnac. This part of the château’s lineage is still reflected on each label of Château de Briat, which proudly bears the Baron’s name. As time progressed, however, the estate came to be owned exclusively by the Baron’s maternal ancestors, the de Luze family.
Today, Stephane de Luze continues his family’s notable heritage while endeavoring to impart his own distinct mark on the world of Armagnac. Currently, the domain has eight hectares of vines, planted in sandy soil with Folle Blanche, Baco, and a minority share of Colombard. Vine cultivation, vinification, distillation, and cask aging is varied to suit each vintage, and in the majority of instances, fermentation is achieved without added yeast. Stephane maintains his father’s traditions, distilling each varietal separately on a traveling, wood-fired alambic Armagnacais (scaled-down version of a modern column still) from the early 1900s. (As Stephane continues to make improvements to this historic estate, the goal of establishing an on-site still is top ranked.) After three years, the brandy is transferred from new, 420-liter oak to older casks, and apart from an airing that occurs once a year, they are left to rest in the domain’s spacious yet primitive chai, built in 1724. Topping up is not practiced; de Luze prefers to let levels fall, promoting air contact to round out the spirits, which often experience about twenty-five percent evaporation throughout their evolution. Assemblage of varietals takes place after a minimum of four years and, at times, not until their tenth birthday, but bottling rarely takes place until at least fifteen to twenty years of age."