 Armagnac Laballe, 1989 with glass. by Lisa Kolick Today, I am writing about Armagnac, a wonderful spirit distilled from wine. You may not be familiar with Armagnac, but I am sure you have heard of and most likely tasted Cognac. Armagnac and Cognac are in the wine family, as they are both spirits distilled from wine. I have included quite a bit more information about Armagnac, as it is not made like a typical wine. Today’s race was somewhat of a “leisurely” pace to a fast sprint finish race. The last 10km of Stage 4 was the real race today. More on the race below. How Armagnac is made According to Wine-Searcher.com, Armagnac is made by distilling wine made from primarily Ugni Blanc, about 55%; typically accompanied by Folle Blanche, Baco Blanc , and Colombard grape varieties. Each of these brings its own particular qualities to the spirit, so the varieties are sometimes harvested, vinified, distilled, and aged separately. This gives producers greater freedom and flexibility when creating their final blend. This blend of spirits is then transferred back into barrel, where it homogenizes and is (if necessary) diluted gradually to bottling strength (typically between 40-45 percent). Because alcohol evaporates gradually over time in barrel, the longer a spirit is aged, the less dilution it requires. Quality grading and styles All Armagnacs are assigned a quality level, based on how much time the spirit spent in barrel: VS (between 1 and 3 years), VSOP (between 4 and 9 years), Napolean (between 6 and 9 years) and XO (10 years+). Some are marked with a specific age (that of the youngest spirit in the blend). Vintage-marked Armagnacs are produced exclusively from the stated vintage. Armagnac compared to Cognac The two most obvious differences between Armagnac and Cognac are region of origin and flavor profile. Armagnac comes from Gascony, 75 miles (120km) southeast of Bordeaux. Cognac comes from the Charente, 60 miles (100km) north of Bordeaux. Armagnac is more deeply flavored, weightier, earthier and darker. Cognac is slightly lighter, finer and fruitier. Beyond region and style, there are a few less obvious ways in which Armagnac and Cognac differ. The most technical of these is that most Armagnac is distilled just once, in a continuous still. This single distillation creates a heavier spirit – lower in alcohol and higher in flavor than Cognac (which is distilled twice in a traditional pot still). Because the distillation process naturally separates the spirit from its heavier flavor compounds, the less refined a spirit is, the richer its flavor. Most Armagnac leaves the still between 53 percent and 60 percent ABV (alcohol by volume), versus Cognac's 72 percent ABV. Below are vintage Armagnacs: 1989, 1999, and 2002, that were aged in oak barrels until they were bottled in 2020. They have deep flavors and drink very smoothly, even the newest vintage 2002. All of these examples are considered XO grade Armagnacs. Keep tasting wines you have not tried before. I hope you will be surprised by what you find.  1989 Armagnac LaBalle, 1999 Domaine de Jouanda Armagnac, 2002 Domaine de Jouanda Armagnac. by Lisa Kolick Now for today’s race-Stage 4 After 3 days of intense racing, the riders raced a relatively flat stage over 181km from Dax to Nogaro, in southwest France. The race passed through kilometers of vineyards and agricultural land. The riders rode at a “leisurely” pace of approximately 20-25 mph for most of the race. There were no breakaways until the conclusion of the intermediate sprint at 88km to go in the race. Jasper Philipsen took the points for the sprint. Then most riders settled in for the rest of the race. There was a breakaway by 2 riders following the sprint, but the peloton caught them well before the last 20km. The big sprint teams had control of the peloton for the last half of the race and kept the speed down to reserve energy for the sprinters at the finish of the race. The excitement was building for the last 5km of the stage. The sprint teams set up to launch their sprinters, then 3 crashes in the last 2km and the finish was a little wild. Speed and proximity to other riders make sprints exciting and dangerous. Jasper Philipsen edged out Caleb Ewing by half a bike tire to win the stage and take the points. Philipsen of team ALPECIN-DECEUNINCK took 2 for 2 sprints today. Mark Cavendish finished 5th on the day. He is getting closer to his record-setting stage win, but this will have to wait until Stage 7 when there is another flat stage from MONT-DE-MARSAN > BORDEAUX.  Stage 5, Tour de France race profile. by LeTour.com Tomorrow the race heads to the Pyrenees mountains for the next 2 stages. These will be much bigger climbs than we have seen in the first three days of climbing, Stages 1-3 were merely hilly.
Santé
Nick
7/4/2023 15:45:59
Let the fireworks begin Comments are closed.
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