Introducing: Château du Tariquet - an Armagnac that proves that everything has its time
Château du Tariquet (also known as Domain du Tariquet) is a brand of Armagnac owned by the Grassa family. In today's article, we will introduce you to the story that shaped this excellent Armagnac for almost 100 years.
But first, a bit of theory:
What is Armagnac?
■ It is a wine distillate distilled only once, through gradual distillation, which preserves many aromatic and flavoring substances.
■ The alcohol content must not exceed 63%.
■ Only distillates from vineyards in the town of La Bastide d'Armagnac can be labeled as "armagnac".
■ It is allowed to be produced use only ten selected white varieties of sour grapes.
■ Bas-Armagnac, which is also called Tariquet, is made from grapes grown on sandy-clay soils and has distinct fruit notes.
In front of the winemakers bear tamers and war veterans
Until Château du Tariquet gained its well-deserved fame, its owners faced a difficult fate and success only came with their third generation. At the end of the 19th century, France was plagued by hunger, so the bear tamer and grandfather of one of the current owners, Mr. Artuad, decided to try his luck in the USA. At an older age, however, he longed to return to France. His eye caught the Château du Tariquet vineyard from 1683. His financial resources did not allow him to buy it, so he returned to New York and bought the vineyard with his son Jean-Pierre. When they bought the vineyard around Château du Tariquet in 1912, it was destroyed by phylloxera (an aphid that eats the roots of vines - in the 19th century it completely destroyed 6 million hectares of French vineyards). The family was left with only 7 hectares of vineyard in a not very good condition. However, Mr. Artuad still started with the production of the first brandy and farming. Young Jean-Pierre Artuad returned to his wife Pauline and his job as a bartender in New York. However, the times were kind to few. Just two years after buying the vineyard, Jean-Pierre also had to return to France. Not for his father, but to enlist in the First World War. In the battle, he suffered a bayonet wound with great loss of blood, which caused him to lose his memory for several years. He returned to New York unrecognizably changed to see Pauline only after many years spent in the hospital. The war affected him so significantly that they decided to leave modern life in New York and return to the acquired vineyard in France, where their daughter Heléne was born. The period of the Second World War passed and better times were beginning to dawn on the family vineyard. Heléne married a member of the French resistance, Pierre Grasse. Together, they started to cultivate the vineyard, purchased land and decided to breathe life into it again. They thus started a completely new era of this family vineyard, in which each generation had its role. Their children Yves and Maïté also found themselves in the cultivation of the vineyard, and the family thus began to produce Armagnac - or more precisely, the even more prized Bass-Armagnac. The vineyard became absolutely self-sufficient, as well as one of the largest in France. And so in 1972, the bass-armagnac brand Château du Tariquet saw the light of day.
The secret of production
However, the success of the vineyard was not only due to determination, but was most influenced by its origin. The Château du Tariquet vineyard is located in the historical territory of the former Gascony. It is a southwestern region of France known for its sandy, acidic and, despite the high content of iron, nutrient-poor soil. However, there is also a high concentration of clayey silt, which as a result greatly helps the rich production of Armagnac and its distinctive fruity taste.
Grapes grown exclusively in our own vineyard
Grapes for the production of Armagnac Château du Tariquet come directly from the vineyard, where 100 hectares of vineyards are set aside just for the cultivation of Armagnac grapes. The varieties Uni Blanc, Baco, Folle Blanche and Plante de Graisse are grown on them. However, Château du Tariquet specializes in the more demanding Folle Blanche variety, which requires a lot of care. For example, Armagnacs Tariquet Pure Folle Blanche 8 years, Tariquet Pure Folle Blanche 12 years and Tariquet Pure Folle Blanche 15 years.
The rarity of the brand is also the production of Armagnac from the Plant de Graisse grape variety. No other producer grows this variety. At Château du Tariquet, however, they found a way to effectively work with this oily and not very aromatic grape variety. The result of
