Laberdolive 1976 Domaine de Jaurrey Bas Armagnac

IMPORTER NOTES:

GRAPE VARIETY: Ugni Blanc
VINEYARD: Lieu-dit Domaine de Jaurrey. Vines have been in the family since 1893 and planted over sandy soils. 8 ha. South facing.
WINEMAKING: Grapes are harvested slightly underripe to assure good level of acidity and are carefully sorted to assure that the grapes are free of any defect. The must is vinified and then distilled by hand in an antique, wood-fired alambic still for 2 weeks.
AGING: The resulting eau-de-vie is then aged in black 406L oak barrels hewn from the estate’s own forest. Aged in wood until fully ready to drink (up to 30 years and more).
BOTTLING: Laberdolive Armagnac is bottled at cask strength and only when fully mature, with no addition of coloring or water.

ABOUT THE PRODUCER: "There are very few products whose clear superiority and singularity allow them to define the very category into which they are placed. The Armagnacs of Laberdolive, however, have for many years been regarded by a consensus of connoisseurs as the exemplar of the highest standard to which Armagnac can aspire. As Charles Neal observed in his ARMAGNAC, The Definitive Guide to France’s Premier Brandy:

‘Laberdolive. The very name carries with it an aura. With regards to reputation, the family firm sits upon France’s upper echelon alongside Mouton, Romanée-Conti, Petrus, Roederer, Guigal, Yquem; Laberdolive’s Armagnacs are the ones that get the most press, the ones bought by Onassis and Fernandel, and the ones whom locals regard with critical envy.’

Laberdolive is single-vineyard, vintage-dated Armagnac crafted by one Gascon family for over five generations. The Armagnac is produced from wine made from their own vineyards (including rare ungrafted, pre-phylloxera folle blanche, which they are still able to grow because of the sandy soil). It is distilled by hand with an antique wood-fired continuous still and aged in black oak barrels hewn from the estate’s own forests. Laberdolive Armagnac is bottled at cask strength, and only when fully mature, with no addition of coloring or water. Laberdolive remains a reference in the region and a name that is associated with Armagnac of grand class.”