Jérôme Castledine, of Bordeneuve Châteaux & Collections, reflects on a difficult year for Armagnac – but is happy to report that a bit of patience leads to a bumper harvest
It’s been a strange old year for weather here in Armagnac, and one which has brought mixed fortunes to our region’s producers.
We’ve seen dramatic deluges, interspersed with reasonably clement passages and short bursts of intense heat, which encouraged an abundance of vegetation right through the growing season.
There’s been so much rain this year, in fact, that the Baron doesn’t remember having once heard the ‘hose-pipe ban’ bandied about; in itself, an affirmation of the saturation levels!
Unfortunately though, this type of weather pattern can also encourage mildew growth, there being much damp foliage, and this has, effectively, been the bane of many regional growers during the 2024 season, sometimes reducing harvest yields to zero for those worst-hit.
Fortunately for the vines at Château de Bordeneuve, the Baron’s estate, they enjoy particularly fine and light soils, known as tawny sands, which facilitate drainage of excessive rains through to the capacious water table extending far beyond the boundaries of the 42 hectares contained within the property’s boundaries.
Furthermore, with regard to the protection and general welfare of the estate’s vines, the Baron practises ‘responsible viticulture’; a non-invasive, minimalist intervention method of farming, which has proved to be an extremely effective approach this year, enabling a natural balance to reign in the vineyards, thus helping to keep the vines both healthy, productive and relatively unscathed from meteorological excesses.
Recently, a watchful eye on the coming weather patterns, along with pavement café chats with producers from surrounding villages, were enough to make the Baron decide to delay the start of harvest by a couple of weeks at the end of the growing season. Predicted late warm weather and negative feedback from viticulturers who had already gathered in early gave weight to the notion of waiting a while longer so as to provide every opportunity for the grapes to reach optimum maturation.
At the beginning of October, the grapes were finally in perfect harvesting condition and so followed an intense week of activity in the vineyards, speed and efficiency being key for ensuring the freshest pressing possible.
It soon became apparent that both the Ugni Blanc & Baco grapes, the resident varietals at the château, were extra juicy. Moreover, having recently invested in a more ecological and highly-efficient receiving bin and grape press, there was every probability that the domain would produce a bumper crop this year.
Effectively, once all grapes had been picked and pressed, the results were extremely encouraging, showing a yield averaging 130 hectolitres of pure juice extracted per hectare of vine picked. With the national average volume in France standing at 57 hectolitres per hectare, this represented an impressive amount of grape juice to be fermented and distilled!
Following several consecutive years of insufficient volumes – a consequence of repeated biting frosts and overly-severe hailstorms – the sheer relief and joy felt on seeing the storage tanks replete was a wondrous thing.
The icing on the cake this end of season, however, has been the outstanding quality of the grape juice: excellent levels of residual acidity, crucial for successful Armagnac distilling, underpinning an already heady blend of floral and fruited aromas, even before undergoing short, natural fermentation on the skins, are qualities that show much promise for the coming vintage.
And so it is that the Baron and his team now look forward to ‘lighting the flame’ under the still, which announces the beginning of distillation for Baron de Sigognac Bas Armagnac.
Undertaken at a naturally festive time of year, distillation will be all-the-more merry in 2024 knowing that the raw product is both copious, naturally characterful and brimming with potential. The 2024 vintage will surely be a thing of beauty… after 20 years ageing in the cellars, that is!
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