BAS-ARMAGNAC
A story of French families, French history, and Gascon terroir.
DISCOVER
MARQUISE DE MONTESPAN — XVIIe s.
The Duc de Loussac Armagnac gets its origins back in the 17th century. The Marquise de Montespan, one of the most famous mistresses of the Sun King Louis XIV, is at the heart of our history, as she was born in the Château of Lussac in the Gers departement. In 1679, the Sun King conferred the Duc de Loussac title to the Marquise de Montespan, who had just given him a 7th son. The Duc de Loussac is a purely fictional character, inspired by the magnificent Marquise de Montespan, and the very real "Duché de Loussac" title given by the King of France. Today, we are reviving the legend with our "Duc de Loussac" Bas Armagnac.
The house uses the four main grape varieties coming from their own vineyard in the most prestigious “cru”: the Bas Armagnac. Ugni Blanc for its consistency of style, Baco for its body and capacity of long aging, Folle Blanche for its floral and fruity flavors, and Colombard for its spice notes.
The wines are always displaying a high acidity and relatively low alcohol (10.5% alc) that are suitable for the distillation. Each grape is vinified separately.
The wines are distilled only once, in a continuous column still alambic, the traditional distillation system in Armagnac. Each grape is distilled slowly and separately. The wines comes as “distillat” at around 57%-60% alcohol.
The freshly distilled wines are put right after distillation in French oak barrels. Most of the oak used comes from Gascony, called “black oak”. These casks offer the best ageing conditions for the future armagnacs.
The houses’ cellar master, along with the Lesgourgues family, makes the proper “assemblage” (blending) chosing the different eaux-de-vie (brandies) that will be part of the final product. This stage is crucial and only a long experience and know-how guarantees the quality and authenticity of the Armagnacs.
After the blending is finalized, the Armagnac is slowly reduced to the desired alcohol strength (generally 40% alc.), non-chilled filtered, and bottled.
Duc de Loussac offers a complete range of fine Bas Armagnacs from blends (multi-vintage armagnacs) to Vintage armagnacs (100% single vintage).
A blend of armagnacs from 3 to 5 years old.
A blend of armagnacs from 5 to 8 years old.
A blend of Armagnac aged 10 years and above.
Each Vintage is the witness of a particular year. 100% of the grapes, wine, and distillate are from the same vintage as stated on the label.
