The Castarède 1980 is the maison's most approachable mature vintage, finesse over power, in the words of the house. Four decades of French oak rest, the classic Bas-Armagnac four-grape blend, 40% volume. ÉLEVAGE: Baco, Ugni Blanc, Folle Blanche and Colombard, distilled together and staged through the Castarède cellar from new oak to older wood. The 1980 vintage was light from the start, a high-yield year with a softer style, and the maison has chosen to preserve that delicacy through a careful élevage rather than push for additional weight. The result is an Armagnac that opens immediately, without the tannic gate of more concentrated vintages. SERVING: a tulip glass, room temperature. The accessibility makes this an excellent introduction to vintage Armagnac for a new collector or a serving bottle for a dinner table where guests bring varied palates. Pairs with apple tarte Tatin, salted caramel, blue cheese, or a Connecticut-shade cigar where the gentle wrapper meets the soft spirit profile without force.
Tasting notes
Aged gold, copper highlights.
Tea-soaked raisins, candied peel, jasmine blossom, dried fruit.
Soft, round, light prune, gentle spice, emerging rancio. Discreet oak frame.
Medium length, dried fruit, lingering candied peel.
France's oldest registered Armagnac trading house, founded in 1832 at Pont de Bordes by a family ennobled by Louis XVIII in 1818, with land purchased in Bas-Armagnac alongside Baron Haussmann, then Deputy of Nérac.Six generations on, Florence Castarède directs the maison from the original cellars; the historic stocks include vintages stretching from the early 20th century to the present.The Castarède signature is the staged élevage, new oak first for extraction, older wood for slow integration, and a refusal to release vintages until they have settled into themselves.
