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A legacy story In 1820, Jean Dominique Laudet, returning from the West Indies where he had spent more than 20 years in the spice trade, decided to fulfill his dream: to devote the rest of his life to... See more

A legacy story In 1820, Jean Dominique Laudet, returning from the West Indies where he had spent more than 20 years in the spice trade, decided to fulfill his dream: to devote the rest of his life to producing the oldest alcohol in France: Armagnac. It was then that he acquired the Château de Laballe in the heart of the Bas Armagnac Landais, on the border of the Landes and the Gers, a region formerly called the Grand Bas Armagnac. The estate then includes 600 HA of wood and agricultural land and has 120 people at the service of the exploitation: a large-scale company that does not frighten Jean Dominique, guided by his desire to produce Armagnac. He will write his enthusiasm on the day of the purchase: "On June 16, 1820, I just acquired a magnificent estate located a few places from Eauze, consisting of a cellar... Extract from the notebook of jean-dominique laudet's memoirs. Very quickly the Armagnacs Château Laballe became very well known thanks to the Know-how and an exceptional quality, so much so that in 1929 Jean Dominique exported in avant-garde 200 barrels of Armagnac to New York! From then on, the passion is transmitted from father to son: Jean-Dominique, Alexandre, Julien, Fernand, Robert, Noel and Christian maintain over the years and centuries the family know-how, each bringing his own personal "claw". The major evolution in Laballe comes from Noël Laudet in the 70s. Former manager of Château Beychevelle, he brings a new dimension to the Domaine: Wine. Thanks to his skills, he diversified the production that had hitherto been devoted to Armagnac only, by making dry white wine the other reference of Château Laballe. Today, it is Cyril Laudet, the 8th generation who takes up the torch with his wife Julie. Their ambition is to pay tribute to the ancestors of the family by perpetuating the Savoir Faire in the respect of traditions and to develop the Domaine, armagnac and the wines of Laballe with a contemporary touch inherent in their time and their young ages. The domain The vineyard is located on a singular, rare and small terroir, called Sables Fauves. These soils are well known in Armagnac because they are the favorite soils of Bas-Armagnac, but the domaine de Laballe was the 1st to make wines on this terroir. Les Sables Fauves, clay-loamy deposits in softened hillsides, have the particularity of being loaded with iron oxide which brings an important minerality and freshness to the wines and armagnacs. From the work of the vine and soil to winemaking and aging, everything is done to extract as much as possible the specificity of this geographical area. Les Sables Fauves is the original entity of Château Laballe. This fine strip of tawny sands on which the Domaine de Laballe is located benefits for wine from 2 appellations: the Terroirs Landais, reserved for the vines of the sables only and Côtes de Gascogne, major appellation of the south-west covering a larger area. Today there is a range for each of the appellations. Domaine de Laballe now has an area of 17 ha but in order to expand its range and develop, Cyril Laudet also works closely with neighboring vineyards. He follows and directs the vinifications as in his own cellar. The grape varieties used in Laballe are for: – Armagnac: white ugni and baco – dry white wines: colombard, ugni blanc, sauvignon blanc, sauvignon gris, gros manseng, chardonnay. – soft whites: the small manseng and the big manseng – rosé: Cabernet Franc – red: merlot, cabernet sauvignon and tannat. See less

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