DARROZE

Marc Darroze

The story of Darroze house started in 1974 when Francis Darroze started his business as a trader and producer of vintage Bas-Armagnacs. Relying on his years of experience, tasting and visits to the ageing cellars of Bas-Armagnac, the sub-region of Armagnac where the richest, complex and interesting spirits are produced.

Later, Francis was joined by his son Marc, a trained oenologist following his dad's footsteps since 1996. Both complimenting each other and both 'treasure hunters', they have roamed the lands of Armagnac for all these years searching for this golden liquid that they offer to you today.

For a bit of time, Marc has now been running the Maison Darroze on his own and even more since the recent passing of Francis.

Later, Francis was joined by his son Marc, a trained oenologist following his dad's footsteps since 1996. Both complimenting each other and both 'treasure hunters', they have roamed the lands of Armagnac for all these years searching for this golden liquid that they offer to you today.

For a bit of time, Marc has now been running the Maison Darroze on his own and even more since the recent passing of Francis.

Les Grands Assemblages

For several generations, the Darroze family has scoured Gascony in the Grands Crus centre of the Bas Armagnac region. Thousands of centuries-old treasures are held in stock at the Darroze house. This diversity in crus, vintages, grape varieties and styles has allowed Marc Darroze to work on this range known as « Les Grands Assemblages » (The Great Blends). Chosen for their complementary characteristics, the selected Armagnacs in each blend are of different ages. Each age on the bottle indicates the age of the youngest Armagnac in the blend.

The Unique Collection

Nowadays Maison Darroze has in their ageing cellars Armagnacs from more than 30 different estates located in various parts of Bas-Armagnac. The villages of Labastide d’Armagnac, Arthez d’Armagnac, Le Frêche, Villeneuve de Marsan, Le Bourdalat, Lacquy, Perquie, Hontanx, Mauléon d’Armagnac and du Houga have vineyards producing the best brandies.

This area is what was used to be called "Grand Bas-Armagnac". It is in this area of 15×25 kilometres that Darroze focuses with determination on their never-ending quest to find yet another small quantity of the characterful Armagnacs so typical of the region.

In order to sell vintage Armagnac, they require a minimum of 10 years of ageing in oak barrels. After 15 years of ageing, you start to have the desired balance between flavours, tannins and alcohol. In order to maximise the ageing phase, Armagnacs are bottled only when Darroze receives an order, as unlike wine, Armagnac no longer ages once bottled (this is true of all spirits). For this reason, Darroze always includes the date of bottling on the label, which attests to the real age of the Armagnac.

The particularity and typicity of the UNIQUE COLLECTION is explained by the Darroze family's refusal to blend their Eaux-de-vies nor add any water to their spirits. Such policy allows to express the unique characteristics of the soil, climate and the varieties have given.