Tariquet Armagnac Folle Blanche 12 y.o.

Volume: 0.7 litres | Alcohol content: 48.2% | Chill filtration: Yes | Colouring: No

Special Features:

This Bas-Armagnac puts the Folle Blanche grape variety centre stage. Made exclusively from this rare variety, it matures in oak casks for at least twelve years. Within the Pure Folle Blanche range, it offers a more mature expression, combining freshness with fruit, spice and an almost iodine-like character on the palate.

The Armagnac is bottled at its natural cask strength of 48.2%. Its deep golden colour develops during cask maturation, with no colouring added. Tariquet uses lightly toasted French oak casks for its Bas-Armagnacs to give the spirit structure without overwhelming it with vanilla or toasted notes.

This expression can be enjoyed neat at room temperature and also pairs well with fruit desserts and pastries featuring meringue. The bottle contains 0.7 litres and comes in gift packaging.

Tasting Notes:

• Nose: Fresh orange, lemon and apple mingle with floral aromas on the nose.
• Palate: The initial freshness builds on the palate. Candied pineapple, nutmeg, white pepper and citrus peel define the flavour.
• Finish: A subtle liquorice note overlays the fruit and spices on the finish. A hint of walnut appears at the very end, expressing the rancio character developed through long maturation.

Distillery/Bottler:

Domaine Tariquet lies near Eauze in the Gers, in Gascony in south-western France. Armagnac production on the estate is documented as far back as 1683. In 1912, Pierre Artaud and his son Jean-Pierre bought what was then a small property with seven hectares of vines. Through Hélène Artaud and her husband Pierre Grassa, it developed into the Grassa family estate. Armin and Rémy Grassa have run the Domaine as the fifth generation since 2005.

The grapes for all the wines and Bas-Armagnacs come from the estate’s own vineyards, and every stage from cultivation to bottling takes place on the estate. Each grape variety is distilled separately. Tariquet uses continuous copper stills in which the wine undergoes a single distillation pass. They are heated with wood from retired acacia posts from the estate’s vineyards. The Domaine brought its first own still into operation in 1985; a second, built to the same design, followed in 2016.

Following the phylloxera crisis in the 19th century, Folle Blanche lost ground to more resilient grape varieties. The Grassa family replanted it on the Domaine in the 1980s. Through the Pure Folle Blanche range, Tariquet allows drinkers to explore how different maturation periods influence this delicate variety, valued for its finesse.

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