Production of The Armagnac Baronne De Bonrepaux - Oldest French brandy

Hello, I am Pierre de Saint Pastou, it is a pleasure to present you how I and my family produce Armagnac, the oldest brandy from France. It's been 8 generations that my family produce Armagnac and I am very proud to present you the centenary "Alambic" owned by the family. It's been 8 generations that my family produce Armagnac and I am very proud to present you the centenary "Alambic" owned by the family. The "Alambic" dates from 1889 and it is the oldest in the Armagnac region. The principal ingredient of the Armagnac is the white wine. This white wine was harvested a month ago and is now transformed into "eau de vie" (spirit), as you can see here. It flows seamlessly. This white wine has no chemical additives, is without sulphur and without sugar; that's why it is cloudy. The white wine grape juice should not be clear because it would mean that I add sulphur and sugar. We have a traditional production process and it is strictly forbidden to add chemicals on our wines. So the wine comes here and goes down along the pipe and will then move up in this side. Then the wine will be heated there. While the wine is heated, the steam will rise and this new vapour will pass here and finally into the coil. The vapour inside the coil with the contact of the cold wine will condense and create the "eau de vie". This is the smallest and oldest "Alambic" of France and it makes 2,000 litters of wine a day that will allow us to produce 400 litters of spirit at 50 degrees. We will then put this Armagnac into French oak barrels for 8 or 10 or 15 years... and more than 20 years for the exceptional "Millésimes".