Chateau de Pellehaut 1989 Ugni Blanc and 1996 Folle Blanche (K&L Pick)

Ryan's Review

Both of the armagnacs today come from a house owned and run by the Beraut family located in the Ténarèze region of Armagnac. The Pellehaut house is a relatively large estate covering some 530 hectares, about half of which is dedicated vineyard. What we're looking at today is two different vintages produced with two different grapes.

Chateau de Pellehaut 1989 
28 years old
49.9
Ugni Blanc

Nose: Heavy cinnamon, paprika. Moving to some sweeter notes. Maple syrup, light orange notes. A bit of astringent oak, as well.
Taste: This is quite lively right up front and not as spice forward as I feared.  Sweet honey followed by an assortment of juicy fruits. Plums, melon. Oh, and sugary grapefruit! Tangerines, too. Very juicy. Fruits are followed by sweet cinnamon, burnt caramel.
Finish: Long, with the sweet cinnamon, followed by more of those juicy fruits intermingling with the spice.

Overall: This shows multiple layers of complex sweetness from the fruits, to the honey and burnt caramel, to the cinnamon and spice. Yes, for those of you who don't find yourselves in the kitchen, too often, even some spices can show sweetness, especially if you've ever cooked with high quality cinnamon or paprika. Lovely armagnac. Oh yea, and it'll cost you just under a $100. I recently read a comment from somebody who felt there wasn't good value and accessibility in armagnac. Well this is an armagnac that says otherwise. Anyway...

Grade: A-

1996 (bottled 2013) Chateau de Pellehaut (K&L Pick)
17 years old
50.4
Folle Blanche

Nose: Creamy citrus, cinnamon, coffee, light earthiness
Taste:  Lots of brown sugar right up front, and then some fruits. Melon, guava, there's that plum again. Slightly syrupy. Just a slight roughness where it transitions to the back end with those typical baking spices and a bit of aromatic oak taking over.
Finish: Fair bit of oak envelopes the palate on the finish. Some light cinnamon, coffee, lingering fruits. Bitter orange peel.

Overall: Quite good. With all that brown sugar sweetness and oak we're finding ourselves creeping closer to bourbon territory, but we're not really crossing the line. This is still recognizable brandy, and like the 1989 vintage, the fruit sugars really shine. This one was around $60 when available in 2013, but if pushed to make a choice I think I'd pay the extra $40 to have that '89 Ugni Blanc, instead.

Grade B+