Exploring Armagnac-Ténarèze: Pellehaut Selection/1989, Pomès-Pébérère 10, Janneau 18, Grangerie 2000
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- Опубликовано: 18 сен 2024
- I promised last month in my Bas-Armagnac round-up ( • Bas-Armagnac Roundup: ... ) that we'd hit the Ténarèze hard, and here we are with five options to try (including two from my trading partner Rachel).
Ténarèze-Armagnac is, of course, the middle segment of the broader Armagnac growing region (France Today has a good map: www.francetoda...) due east of Bas-Armagnac (which is on the western side). It's perhaps more known these days for wine and horseback riding than brandy, but dang can they make some good ones. The excellent and extraordinary D'Aurensan 2009 (see • 'Yak Attack: D'Aurensa... ) is what got me curious about the region - my pal Jose also recently blinded me with an older sibling, a 1979 ( • Blind Tasting/Reviews:... ), in a video made literally right as I was prepping this one - but I had never really explored anything else from the region. And, if the search function is any judge, none of the bigger channels on the 'tube seem to be up for the task. So, high time to taste through a bunch of these things and see what horse country is capable of. Stats:
- Chateau de Pellehaut Selection Armagnac-Ténarèze (5 years old?; bottled circa 2018; 100% Folle Blanche; 43% ABV), 84/100
- Chateau Pomès-Pébérère 10 Year Old Armagnac-Ténarèze (François Faget; bottled circa 2018; Ugni Blanc, Colombard, Gros Manseng; 42% ABV), 84+/100
- Janneau Single Distillery 18 Year Old Armagnac (marked as Armagnac-Ténarèze on the website; bottled circa 2018; Ugni Blanc, double distilled; 43% ABV), 85+/100
- Chateau de la Grangerie 2000 18 Year Old Armagnac (based in the northern Ténarèze; Cask 67 for K&L Wines, bottled circa 2019; Ugni Blanc; 48% ABV), 88/100
- Chateau de Pellehaut 1989 Armagnac-Ténarèze (bottled 2019, so 29 or 30 years old; Ugni Blanc/Folle Blanche; 49.9% ABV), 89+/100
These are all really good, well worth exploring, and a fun change-up from the stuff further west. The little Pellehaut is wonderfully spicy and fresh while the older, woodier 1989 can stand up to bigger-name yaks at twice the price; the Pébérère 10 is a Christmas bomb with charm; the Janneau, as a more cognac-styled Ténarèze (if anything it reminds me of Catoctin Creek XO • Let's Try Bottled-in-B... ), is fascinating and well worth a try; the Grangerie is as classic as Armagnac gets and, again, a total steal. And there are, indeed, common notes and hints at terroir (the dirt, the peppery notes, the funky pear/lychee aromatics). My only complaint is that none of these quite measure up to the d'Aurensans - and maybe, just maybe, that's a fermentation thing.
Great to see someone advocating for cognac and armagnac "off the beaten path", away from the mainstream. I'd probably do that too, but I'm limited to almost nothing in my area, so my selection is frozen in time - whatever I managed to buy when I traveled. But the learning continues. Hopefully shipping opportunities will expand.
I can't imagine stuff like this will remain hidden for long. Gems have a way of being found!
@@differentspirits4157 well, it has all these years, mostly found by those who search. Perhaps that's the way it should be. I'm glad I started looking. I'm not stopping :)
More Armagnac!
Yep! Still more also coming pretty soon.
Armaniac are so good with some good haschich lol. Love your channel. "Coffee cake singularity that implode on itself" … "coffee cake you can’t cut with a lightsaber" 😂 J’adore. And since my discovery of Clairins (in part thanks to you), I advocate for wild fermentation as well. For whiskys, the battle for unchilled filtered production and the quality of casks have been going on for a while (thanks Ralfy), but I feel the next battle ground to push for will be wild fermentation. As for as I know, It’s inexistant in mid/big producers.
Not really a hashish guy myself, but I could see that pairing! And throw some coffee cake in there too, why not. Thanks for commenting!!
The 1989 Pellehaut was actually bottled over several years with varying bottle age depending. I have both a 27 and 28 year that were bottled in separate years despite being of the same vintage and they are quite similar. Armagnac can trip you up that way. The estate has moved to folle blanche instead of Ugni Blanc apparently. If some fruit and freshness was there to balance the intense dusty spices then we'd have a real gem. But it's great as is.
That Grangerie sounds really interesting, like a neutron bomb of oak
Yup, and apparently some of the bottlings have different varietal mixes. Why isn't there an Armagnacbase site for this kind of thing?
Fun and informative video for armagnac newbies like me. Your pronunciation of French words gets an 83 minus though, heheh.
Thanks! I would've given myself a 67 or so. Minus.
For the recap I also still think you should try integrity pot-still guniper (again not gin, but guniper berries distilled in strange mashes of unpopular expressive grains with barley added). Not a lot to tune into tho, because of the old school producers being like 5 in the world i guess. Take Care. PS : People do dry Lychee fruits, and that's neat
I have had my eye on such things! Buying one is another matter...
Great review, Scott! I can get the Pellehaut 89' for about $90. Seems worth it. What do you think? Funny, for our tasting I was thinking a few cognacs and just one armagnac but the cognacs I'm finding are all 80pr and we often prefer fuller/higher proofs. So I think I want another armagnac. I've purchased a L'Encantada XO BAS 4.0 which I'm excited for. If I do get the Pellehaut would it be a nice contrast? Thanks, and cheers!
There are cask strength cognacs out there and a lot are well worth pursuing, but you're right, they're way more common in Armagnac for the moment. (and yes, I'd hop on old Pellehaut for $90.)
@@differentspirits4157 thanks Scott! As for the comparison w the L'Encantada?
@@philc1884 I'd suggest a d'Aurensan if you can get one!
@@differentspirits4157 Instead of the Pellehaut? I was asking if the Pellehaut w be a nice contrast to the L'Encantada (w I have already). Separately (sorry to add to any confusion : ) I found a higher abv cognac, Sazerac de Forge 94pr? Ever try it? thanks again, Scott!
so.....sigognac and janneau against any mainstream hennessy courvoisier etc ???.....
Radically different styles, but yeah, in terms of absolute quality-per-dollar Armagnac is going to beat out the Big 4 Cognac producers. Now, it's a different story if we start talking about smaller producers in Cognac (see, e.g., ruclips.net/video/D0eJtbdUITY/видео.html)...
I thought your limit was you ignoring the Tenareze region, not anymore ! I'm still thinking its hidding stupid value even if the availability is reflecting that.
Agreed, and thanks for the kind words!