Who hasn't heard of the chef Jean Darroze? An emblematic figure of Landes gastronomy, this south-western chef has passed on his passion for cooking, fine wine, and local spirits to his son Francis Darroze. The latter quickly developed a sophisticated palate and, from the 1950s, began searching for lesser well-known Armagnacs. This project went so well that, in the 1970s, he had a cellar dedicated to ageing built. Next in line was his son, Marc, who continued this tradition of seeking liquid gold – this collection is now available at iDealwine.

An Armagnac distilled at the De Gaube estate in 1963 and bottled by Francis Darroze in 2002. Founded in 1956, the De Gaube estate is owned by the Morel family, who are originally from the Vaux canton near Lausanne, Switzerland. It is located in Bas-Armagnac, which is known for its tawny sands, in this case planted with 60 hectares of Baco grape. Mr Morel selects oak trees for building the large vats used to age his Armagnacs over several decades.