[media-credit id=2 align=”aligncenter” width=”1024″]
[/media-credit]
In June we spent some time visiting Armagnac distilleries in the Southwest of France. The area is ravishingly beautiful – full of vineyards, bastides (the fortified villages built to defend against the marauding English), and a variety of culinary specialities that will leave you reeling. The pleasure of the area, technically the Gers / Tenareze, is that there aren’t any major tourist sites so there aren’t big buses with gaggles of people. There are plenty of great things to see and do but if you do see tourists they’ll most likely be like you, out there for a taste of the country and the great things that come from it.
I created a map of all the Armagnac distilleries that I know of so that you can quickly map trips on your phone. Make sure to contact the distilleries before making a special trip because, while many are open daily, some are so small that appointments are necessary. Keep in mind that these are working wineries so they may be busy. Many also produce Floc, wine, and some host restaurants. I’ve only visited a handful of them, I’ll be back to work through as many as possible in future visits.