Chteau de Pellehaut is located in the center of Armagnac, where the terrain sees a slight rise in altitude as well as a shift from the sand of the Bas-Armagnac to clay and limestone of the Tnarze. With additional nutrients and better water retention, the Tnarze has soil much better adapted to the production of quality table wine. This is the area from which Ctes de Gascogne wines hail.The Pellehaut estate covers 550 hectares, many of which are planted with grains or sunflowers, or used as grazing grounds for their herd of Blonde dAquitaine cows–whose compost helps to limit synthetic fertilizers. Vines now cover 250 hectares on several different types of soil, including mixtures of clay and limestone along with sand interspersed with small limestone pieces. For their armagnacs, they only use grapes grown on the parcels covered with primarily sand, helping to give their spirits unusual finesse for theTnarze region, which is often written off as a second fiddle to the Bas-Armagnac. Since the late 90’s, their vineyards have also shifted from primarily Ugni Blanc to Folle Blanche, the oft-favored grape of the Armagnac drinker, lending their brandies a greater depth of flavor.

The Selection bottling is a five year old Armagnac distilled from 100% Folle Blanche grapes. Perfect for cocktailing, punchy but friendly at 43% ABV, with notes of orange peel and spice.