From Charles Neal Selections, this is an excellent, mature Armagnac from the Tenareze region, primarily composed of folle blanche.
Pellehaut sits at the top of a hill at 180 meters altitude overlooking the quaint village of Monteal-du-Gers. In fact, the name Pellehaut comes from the Roman pila haut or high point. The château itself, constructed in the 18th century, faces the Pyrénées which, although 90 kilometers away, can be majestically seen in the distance on a clear day.
In addition to making a wide range of fantastic table wines, the Beraut family has established themselves as the premier Armagnac producer in the Ténarèze, with fabulous cask strength bottlings going back to the early 70s.
The Pellehaut estate covers 550 hectares, many of which are planted with grains, sunflowers or used as grazing grounds for their herd of Blonde d’Aquitaine cows, whose compost helps to limit synthetic fertilizers. Vines now cover 250 hectares on several different types of soil, including mixtures of clay and limestone along with sand interspersed with small limestone pieces. For their armagnacs, they only use grapes grown on the parcels covered with primarily sand, helping to give their spirits unusual finesse for the region.
