🥃 Bas Armagnac

Bas Armagnac (“Lower Armagnac”) is an additional geographical name attached to the controlled designation “Armagnac” for brandy from the western part of Gascony. The grapes for it are harvested in 90 communes of the Gers and Landes départements, while winemaking, distillation, ageing and finishing take place within the armagnac zone.

The 2025 AOC “Armagnac” specification explains that the three names, Bas-Armagnac, Armagnac-Ténarèze and Haut-Armagnac, run from west to east and correspond to different natural conditions. In the west the rains are abundant and even, with no true dry summer. Marine “Sables fauves” (tawny sands) predominate, partly covered by loess loams, with acid sandy-loam soils that locals call “boulbènes”. Baco blanc, a variety bred in 1898, is well adapted to the sands and boulbènes.

The rules are common to all three names. The wine is made from ten white and pink grape varieties, among them ugni blanc, baco blanc, folle blanche and colombard. Sulphiting the grapes, must and wine is prohibited, and the wine must be distilled by 31 March of the following year. Distillation is mostly in a continuous copper “Armagnac” still over a direct flame, less often twice in an alembic à repasse. The spirit is then aged for at least a year in barrels of pedunculate or sessile oak.

Armagnac is sold at 40% ABV or more, and the name “Bas Armagnac” is written in the same field of vision as “Armagnac”. The boundaries of the three parts were set by the decree of 25 May 1909. Among the communes of Bas-Armagnac are Eauze, Nogaro and Labastide-d’Armagnac; as early as 1310 the prior of Eauze, Vital Dufour, described the “40 virtues” of wine spirit.

Why this matters to you. The name guarantees grapes from the western part of the zone, but not age: age is stated separately, for example by the vintage year. Colour is no proof of ageing either, since caramel for colouring is permitted. WHO reminds: there is no safe dose of alcohol.