The oldest house in Armagnac, the Dartigalongue family began to distill in 1813 – they do not currently own vineyards, and work in partnership with the coop to get grapes of great quality. They take pride in maintaining the family traditions of service and quality and living up to the family motto of “My Armagnac, my strength”. It was in 1838 during the reign of Louis Phillipe that Pascal Dartigalongue (originally from Saint Lannes near Madiran) moved to Nogaro in the Gers and founded his Maison d’Armagnac. He very quickly realized that armagnac could be a successful export product. Despite many difficulties he managed to send oak casks of armagnac to Bayonne where they would be shipped to Holland and England.

Dartigalongue is in the western part of the Bas Armagnac – the soils of the west are sandier than those to the east. Vines grown in sandy soils tend to produce grapes with higher acidity, which results in very round spirits with plenty of finesse. Dartigalongue has the particularity of using mostly Gascogne oak (90%) that gives the eau de vie more spicy notes than armagnac aged in Limousin oak. The Armagnac are aged in 18 different cellars, and are aerated a lot, in big vats, to obtain the right balance between alcohol and aromas. Total production is around 5000 cases per year.

Dartigalongue
NOUS – Exploring the World of Armagnac – July 2018
VINOUS – Exploring the World of Armagnac – July 2018 – reviews

Françoise Dartigalongue