To a Gascon, there can be something almost sacrosanct about an after-dinner glass of Armagnac – the flavoursome, potent and historic brandy produced over just a few thousand hectares in southwestern France.

Sitting in a brasserie in Auch (pronounced Ohsh), within sight of the huge and impressive 15th-century cathedral of Sainte Marie, local wine connoisseur Guillaume Durand cradles a tulip-shaped glass in his hand and tells me about Armagnac’s finer details.

“First, you look and smell,” he says, swirling the fragrant amber-coloured liquid around, bowing his head to bring his nose closer to its quarry – but not too close, as he is quick to point out. “There should be fruitiness there, something to tell you about the grapes and a hint of caramel, toffee or nougat perhaps.”

He pauses for a moment. “Then we taste,’ he says, taking a sip. “Warmth, we have. Burning, we don’t; perhaps an aftertaste of plums or violets? And now you realise why this is the finest brandy in France.”

In the mind of a proud Gascon such as Durand this is not a subject for debate. The mention of Cognac, which is produced just to the north in the Departements of Charente and Charente-Maritime, is dismissed with the sort of Gallic shrug that implies such distractions are fine if you’re the type who doesn’t mind that sort of thing.

Noah drank here

Its devotees claim Armagnac to be the oldest spirit in France. It can certainly trace its roots back at least as far as the 15th century, and the traditions of viniculture here go back much further than that.

In Auch’s cathedral a 400-year-old stained glass window depicts Noah leaning on his elbow beneath a particularly grape-laden vine. In the crypt, meanwhile, the tomb of St Leothade, who was bishop of Auch in the 7th century, features both grapes and vines; as does a mosaic in an excavated third century Gallo-Roman villa at nearby Seviac.

The historic region of Gascony today encompasses the department of Gers and parts of Lot and Garonne. The pace both of life and change is slow here. Villages can look like something out of a French movie; with shaded squares, colourful wooden shutters and leisurely games of
boules. The whole region can feel strangely devoid of people – and for good reason, this is one of the most thinly populated regions of France.

Some locals will tell you that’s the enduring result of the sacrifices made by Gascons in the First World War – following, one woman tells me, in the traditions of “courage” shown by the most famous Gascon in history – the Comte D’Artagnan, who was both the real-life captain of King Louis XIV’s musketeers and also inspiration for the eponymous character in the novels of Alexandre Dumas.

Slow pace of life

There may be an element of truth to that, but those quiet streets and squares are perhaps more a consequence of a long-standing population drift to Toulouse – the nearest large city – Paris and all points thereafter.

There is something timeless too about the region’s sprawling vineyards that, for more than 2,000 years, have been the source of a relatively low-alcohol wine, barely considered drinkable in itself, which is the source of Armagnac.

That tale is told in more depth in the town of Condom – the unofficial Armagnac capital – where there is a small museum dedicated to the spirit and its heritage. This is also home to one of the largest names in the business – Janneau – today part of the Giovinetti group – whose distillery can be visited by those keen to see the minutiae of the processes. Perhaps more attractive, though, is to hunt down some of the smaller producers, whose names are redolent with history and expertise.

Among these are Armagnac Delord in the village of Lannepax, Baron de Sigognac in Castelnau d’Auzan, Chateau de Pellehaut in Montreal and Château du Busca in Maniban.

Local specialities

Even better still, perhaps, is to sample Armagnac in one of the restaurants for whom local cuisine is almost a matter of honour. The spirit makes an appearance in many a Gascon speciality, which tend to be hearty, filling and based on the seasonal produce of the region.

Among them is garbure, the kind of soup that merits a cold day to properly enjoy, made from cabbage, beans and duck confit; daube de bouef – the beef sourced from the local Aquitaine cattle and marinated in a red wine sauce – magret de canard, served pink and thickly sliced, and salmis de palombe – wild wood pigeon served with in a rich sauce made from reduced red wine, ham, garlic, onions and herbs.

Dishes are often cooked in goose fat – often the bi-product of another Gascon speciality, foie gras. Controversial it may be, but visitors with a taste for the famous goose liver pâté should in particular look out for the words foie gras fermier on their menu or, indeed, if they are sampling any of the local markets. The fermier title indicates a small local producer.

After feasting on such fare, the best way to conclude, of course, is with a glass of Armagnac – indeed, in Gascony, it might be seen as heresy to suggest anything different.

Armagnac: on the trail of Gascony’s sacred spirit

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