Domaine de Baraillon 2000

Domaine de Baraillon 2000, Cask #40, Home Cellar
Distilled in: 2000 | Grapes: Baco, Ugni Blanc | ABV: 47%
Appellation: Bas-Armagnac
Village: Lannemaignan

Tasting notes: 

On the nose: burnt crème brûlée, stewed fruits, salted caramel. Long syrupy, thick and lacy on the palate with elegant spices and wood going into a finish that has plenty of sweetness. Just a classic example of Baraillon and why these are so highly sought after!

About the cask:

We had been angling to do a pick with Laurence Claverie, the current owner of Baraillon, since the outset of the project and had visited once before, but had been focused on finding a gem in the 50-60 year old range and there wasn’t enough to bottle for our club. Over aperitif of homemade foie gras and toast and accompanied by Paul, her father from whom she took over the domaine, Laurence would go through the cellar book and allocate us a case or two of each old cask, but couldn’t ever spare more. 

We decided this trip to focus on the slightly younger vintages to get something to share with you all and in this excellent 2000 we found our sweet spot.This selection was distilled by Laurence’s father, Paul, and aged in the family’s ancestral cellar in a used Gascony oak casks.

Selected for our Spirits from the Source club.

More about the domaine: 

Domaine de Baraillon is a new entry to our portfolio, but a producer some of you may be familiar with already as they are one of the region’s very best. It's now run by Laurence Claverie, the latest family member at the head of this rustic farm that improbably turns out some of the best and classiest brandy in all of Armagnac.

They’ve been distilling since the 18^th century and have an encyclopedic collection of old Armagnac stored in glass — on our last visit we tasted a number of pre-World War I vintages in demi-john and even an 1890s-era juice out of pot Gascon! It’s clear the Claverie family cares deeply about preserving the tradition, walking around the cellars and the farm feels like stepping back into another era of France.