Armagnac Darroze - Les Grands Assemblages 12 ans d'age 43% - 70cl

Armagnac - Darroze

With the history of Armagnac production spanning centuries, the history of the producer Francis Darroze S.A. is relatively young. With the center of production in Roquefort, Darroze produces one of the top armagnacs today. Founded in 1974, the firm doesn't operate their own wine production, but rather cooperates with about 30 relatively small wine producers.

History of Darroze

Darroze takes over and supervises the Armagnacs delivered from the wine producers and ages them in his own house cellars, built in 1985. The wines, produced according to traditional methods, only compromise four different customary sorts of grapes. The casks used for aging are built from wood from the evergreen oaks of Gascony, which has been let to air dry for 3 years. In these casks, the young Armagnac achieves an ideal balance between its own alcohol flavors and the aromas and tannins from the casks themselves. After 12 to 15 years, the Armagnac is then transferred to older casks. The prestigious brandy is then bottled only upon demand from customers or, at the latest, after 40 or 50 more years in the cellar - so, in total, after 52 to 65 years of aging. Darroze produces two product lines: his Grand Assemblages and the Unique Collection.

The Armagnacs in the series Grands Assemblages are conventional, at least in the category of Armagnacs which are assemblies of different vintages and growing regions. In fact, the Armagnacs in this product line which are unique are the so-called Grand Crus, the top products that originate in the Bas Armagnac, widely considered to be the best growing region.

The concept behind the Unique Collection is original, but also simple and straightforward: "Respect the terroirs". This involves producing Armagnac without any compromise in the process-completely authentic Armagnac - where the production of exactly one year and specifically one wine region is printed and advertised on the bottle.

The Armagnacs from the House of Darroze are principally different from other brandy wines, in that they are not watered down in order to achieve a specific alcohol strength, and there are also certainly no additives used.