La Flamme de l'Armagnac

A celebration that travels from estate to estate

La Flamme de l'Armagnac has no fixed location; it is a distillation campaign celebrated from one stop to the next. From late October, distillers fire up their stills, and each estate opens its doors in turn until the end of January, sometimes extending into February. The name refers to the flame that heats the still. Distillation is also performed on-site: a mobile distiller travels from cellar to cellar to distill the winemakers' wine.

The tour spans three departments: Gers, Landes, and Lot-et-Garonne. The previous season featured around thirty stops, including: Eauze, Condom, Gondrin, Bassoues, Vic-Fezensac, Nogaro, Fourcès, Panjas, Sarragachies, Réjaumont, Lannemaignan, Larroque-sur-l'Osse, Montréal-du-Gers, Castex-d'Armagnac, Roquebrune, and Sion in the Gers; Labastide-d'Armagnac, Hontanx, Betbezer-d'Armagnac, Bourdalat, Perquie, and Parleboscq in the Landes; and Calignac in the Lot-et-Garonne. The list changes from year to year, and the schedule is published every autumn by the Bureau National Interprofessionnel de l'Armagnac, based in Eauze.

What happens at each stop

Cellar and working still tours, tastings of vintage Armagnacs and Floc de Gascogne, Gascon meals served right by the still, concerts, farmers' markets, and blending workshops. Estates announce their own programs: some are open access, while others require payment and booking, with limited capacity.

Distilling Armagnac

Armagnac is France's oldest brandy, with its first written records dating back to the 14th century. About 95% of production uses the continuous Armagnac still, a pure copper device patented in 1818. The year's white wine flows down from plate to plate to the boiler, meeting the rising vapors in a counter-current process, and emerges as a colorless brandy, usually between 52% and 60% ABV. The Armagnac is then aged in "pièces," 400-liter oak barrels. Distillation must be completed no later than March 31st of the year following the harvest, a deadline that has been moved forward by annual decree in recent years.