Understanding a label

Knowing how to taste is an art in itself and demonstrates a certain skill.  However, there is a step that comes before the tasting: one that will allow a better understanding of this ritual, giving the taster a clue of what the eau-de-vie has in store, well before he has brought the glass to his lips.  This step is of course, understanding the label.

A wealth of information on an Armagnac label can sometimes be quite confusing for those that have not familiar with certain terms like «15 years old», « VS » and « XO ». These descriptions and others are all denominations that need understanding if you want to know what is waiting for you in the bottle.

Here are the key things that you should know in order to understand an Armagnac label properly.

Before tasting an Armagnac, the most important information that you need to know is the age of the eau-de-vie: this will tell the taster how much time the spirit has been aged in barrels and its age can be expressed in several different ways :

Age statements

Example: « 15 years old »

Age statements on a label always refer to the youngest eau-de-vie in the blend, because the final product in a bottle of Armagnac is often made up of eaux-de-vie that have aged in separate barrels over different periods of time.  These eaux-de-vie are blended into a single nectar at the end of their ageing. Therefore, a label that reads « 15 years old», indicates that the youngest eau-de-vie in the blend has been aged for 15 years, though other older ones could also be in the blend.

Commercial denominations 

Example: « VS » or « VSOP »

Sometimes the Armagnac’s age is also referred to by commercial denominations.

VS(Very Special), or 3 stars, refers to Armagnac where the youngest eau-de-vie has been aged for at least one year.

VSOP(Very Superior Old Pale) brings together eaux-de-vie where the youngest has been aged for at least 4 years in barrels.

For XO (Extra Old), or Napoléon, the length of ageing for the youngest eaux-de-vie is at least 6 years.

Hors d’Âge, is a minimum of 10 years.

Vintages

Example: « 1984 »

In the world of spirits, the existence of vintage bottles is specific to Armagnac.  These Armagnacs are made exclusively from the grapes harvested in the year indicated on the label.  As with wine, an Armagnac with a mention of « 1984 » was made uniquely from the 1984 harvest.  To be a vintage, an Armagnac must have aged for at least 10 years.

You may also find the bottling date on a vintage Armagnac’s label and this will indicate the exact number of years that the Armagnac has been ageing as, unlike wine in this case, an Armagnac will stop ageing once it is put into glass.

As well as all of the age mentions on a bottle’s label, other more universal information is also added like that of the producer: Chateau de …, Domaine du …, etc., and the appellation zone of production (Bas-Armagnac, Haut-Armagnac and Armagnac-Ténarèze).

With full knowledge of all these elements, the Armagnac labels should no longer hold any secrets, although the actual tasting will still remain an unpredictable and exciting pleasure.