Domaine Tariquet Pure Folle Blanche, 12 Year Old Bas Armagnac, 48.2% vol

Domaine Tariquet produces exceptionally fine Armagnac in the very heart of the Bas-Armagnac district. Beside the honey-coloured château, with its squat round towers, is the still room and inside are two traditional, wood-fired Armagnac stills. On wheels with lots of polished brass, they look like to stripped down old steam engines. These are continuous stills that produce spirit of 53 to 56% by volume which is then matured in lightly toasted Alliers and Nièvre oak barrels. With no added colouring or sweetening agents, Domaine Tariquet Armagnacs are naturally pale. Armagnac production here goes back to 1683 while the estate has been in the hands of the Grassa family since just before the Great War. Brothers Armin and Rémy Grassa are now in charge; in the early days of dealing here we used to see their grandparents. It is a big operation today, largely due to the enormous success their father Yves had with dry white wine which we sold for many years as Domaine de Rieux. At 1125 ha, it is probably the largest wine domaine in France, the grapes harvested by eight machines and grapes delivered to what is one of the largest press halls in Europe. Freshness is maintained by immediately cooling the grapes and texture is improved by working the must on the lees for a fortnight before fermentation. They still bottle to order today, keeping the wine in tank and almost frozen, meaning that the wine in bottle is as fresh as humanly possible.