Baron Gaston Legrand

Located in Lannepax, in the Gers, at the heart of Bas-Armagnac, Baron Gaston Legrand is a historic estate specialising in vintage Armagnacs. Its history spans more than 120 years. In 1998, with no direct family successor, the estate was taken over by the Lhéraud family, also behind Maison Lhéraud. The historic buildings and four cellars were preserved, allowing the eaux-de-vie to continue being produced and aged in their original environment.

The estate comprises around 20 hectares of vineyards. The white wines destined for distillation are made from traditional Armagnac grape varieties, mainly Ugni Blanc, Baco, Folle Blanche and Colombard. Their proportions may vary depending on the vintage, allowing each year to retain its own identity rather than following a fixed recipe.

Distillation remains deeply rooted in traditional Armagnac methods. Baron Gaston Legrand has two historic Armagnac stills dating from the early 20th century. Unlike Cognac, which is generally double-distilled, Armagnac is distilled here only once using a continuous process. This method produces an eau-de-vie designed to evolve slowly through extended ageing in wood.

Time plays an essential role at Baron Gaston Legrand. The eaux-de-vie are aged for many years in oak casks, including Gascon and Limousin oak. Over the decades, contact with the wood and gradual oxidation shape the Armagnac until each vintage reaches the desired profile.

The true signature of Baron Gaston Legrand, however, lies in its exceptional collection of vintage Bas-Armagnacs. Rather than focusing solely on blends of different ages, the estate has preserved eaux-de-vie from specific years, gradually creating a remarkable library of vintages. The Lhéraud family's reserves include exceptionally old Armagnacs, with vintages dating back as far as 1888.

Baron Gaston Legrand therefore offers a particularly fascinating interpretation of Bas-Armagnac: a spirit whose identity is shaped as much by its terroir and distillation as by the decades spent ageing in cask. Each vintage becomes a testimony to a particular year, its maturation and a passage of time that simply cannot be recreated.

Grape of the Art, independent bottler

Born in Stuttgart in 2021, Grape of the Art is an independent bottler founded by five spirits enthusiasts: Robert Bauer, Oliver Gerhardt, Sascha Junkert, Christian Maier and Leonard Stumpf. The idea took shape during a blind tasting organised by their group of rum and whisky enthusiasts. A few Armagnacs slipped into the line-up opened their eyes to the richness and diversity of French grape spirits, inspiring them to explore this still relatively unknown world in greater depth.

Grape of the Art has specialised in the selection of Armagnac and Cognac, with a particular focus on single casks bottled at their natural strength. The name itself sums up this philosophy: “Grape” refers to the fruit at the heart of these spirits, while “Art” pays tribute to the expertise of the winegrowers, distillers and cellar masters who create them. Although French grape spirits remain at the heart of the project, the founders’ background in rum and whisky continues to influence the way they approach and select their bottlings.

Cask selection plays a central role in their work. Several times a year, the team travels directly to France, visiting the Armagnac and Cognac regions to meet producers, explore their cellars and taste eaux-de-vie straight from the cask. Grape of the Art deliberately limits the number of releases each year: every cask is selected for its individual character rather than to meet a predetermined bottling schedule.

This search leads them primarily to family-owned estates and houses, some of which hold remarkable stocks of old eaux-de-vie patiently preserved for several decades. Through its different releases, Grape of the Art has worked with a variety of Armagnac and Cognac producers, highlighting the diversity of terroirs, grape varieties, distillation methods and ageing practices specific to each house.

Grape of the Art's approach draws directly on the culture of independent whisky and rum bottlers: presenting spirits in an expression as close as possible to the one discovered in the cellar. Its selections therefore focus particularly on single casks and bottlings at natural strength, preserving the character of the distillate, the cask and the years spent ageing. Some releases also explore the blending of different vintages when their complementary profiles make it possible to create a distinctive expression.

Each bottle therefore aims to tell the story of the estate it comes from rather than imposing a single house style across the range. From younger, particularly expressive Armagnacs to eaux-de-vie that have matured for several decades, the selections reveal the remarkable diversity that Armagnac and Cognac can offer when viewed through the eyes of an independent bottler.

With Grape of the Art, Armagnac and Cognac move beyond the traditional image sometimes associated with these spirits and enter the world of single casks, cask strength bottlings and limited editions already familiar to whisky and rum enthusiasts. A different way to explore French grape spirits through terroir, time and, above all, the women and men who produce them.