Boingneres

Originally founded in 1807 by Jean Boingnères, it was not until 1953 that the style of the armagnacs began to change forever as Léon Lafitte took over the estate when his father-in-law died. He first expanded the vineyard area, and second sold bottled stock directly to restaurants. He later replanted the vineyards with folle blanche with some colombard and ugni blanc, for which he coined the phrase Cépages Nobles. He then built a new press house and ageing cellar and in 1975 a new still was purpose built by Ster. The Boingnères armagnacs are distilled to 52% (allowing the maximum of congeners to pass over into the spirit). Half of the new spirit is put into new charred casks of local oak (up to 15 casks per year) and aged for two years, before it is transferred to older wood. The other half goes into two year-old barrels where it remains until required for blending and bottling. No blending of vintages is done after the sixth year. The estate is situated in the commune of Le Frêche, where the soil, a narrow strip of land only 25km by 8km, is dotted with springs and sheltered by the Landes Forest. This small piece of the Bas Armagnac has soil