While out in the wilds of Gascony going from A to B we encountered a sign. A sign from the fields which lead us to something better than we could have ever guessed by driving down a dirt track past ramshackle cow barns. What we first was was amazing in itself….a mobile wine processing and bottling line machine, It was running a production of white Gascon wine for export to America. As I think about it right now….I left the bottle the vintner gave me behind….oh, well…a gift for Kate for putting up with me…. it was too agitated from bottling to drink. We were told it was best to let it sit for 10 days. C’est la vie…. So, once we passed the noisy action of the machine, we hesitated a minute when we saw no one in the little tasting room under the chateau. We were turning around to leave when the owner came out of the big house in his farm coveralls and wellies. He lead us in to the tasting chamber and proceeded to dazzle us with some fantastic vintage Armagnac and his depth of knowledge about his livelihood. The only word for it is Passion. Not only did we buy some Armagnac..me, a slightly younger vintage, 1979,  which has plenty of fruit and character–Kate, a 1972 which was rich, smooth, and fully developed. Because of the method of putting the younger vintages in concrete tanks and then progressively moving them into large wooden barrels, water and alcohol evaporate concentrating flavor naturally. This was not blended in any way. We were also introduced to the distillery’s wines, which we bought some of both the read and white. Great drinking wines for under 5 euros a bottle. You can’t find anything comparable in the States with such value for money. You never know what your going to find when you wander the winding roads of the Gers.

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