New Tradition for the Un-hip

According to Jancis Robinson’s Oxford Companion to Wine, Floc de Gascogne is the Armagnac region’s answer to Pineau des Charentes (the vin de liqueur of the Cognac region)—which, readers may recall, I embraced as the unhip new sip of this minivan-driving suburbanite who has officially lost her grip on cool.

I was introduced to Pineau des Charentes in July when my expat friend Peggy was visiting from France. Last week she was here again with this new aperitif. Like Pineau, Floc de Gascogne is a strong-tasting vin de liqueur made by arresting the fermentation of newly pressed grape juice with the addition of Armagnac. The resulting mistelle (a mix of grape juice and alcohol) is then aged for nine months.

This time Peggy didn’t come with just a bottle of Floc—her husband Jean wouldn’t hear of that. He sent her off with a complete degustation consisting of mini toasts, a variety of pâtés—terrine foie de volaille (chicken liver pâté), terrine lièvre au romarin (rabbit and rosemary pâté), terrine de campagne (country pâté), and a jar of cornichons (pickled French gherkins) for topping off each little canapé.

The combination of flavors—briny pickles that snap when you bite, earthy pâtés and, crunchy toasts worked nicely with the sweet, honey- and almond-laced Floc, which had a slightly edgier, more acidic bite than the Pineau des Charentes.

The bottle’s label touts Floc de Gascogne as a tradition in the region of Gascony to be served very cold as an aperitif or a dessert wine with a number of foods, including melon, pie, strawberries sprinkled with sugar, and the famed duck liver pâté —foie gras.

But what part of the label most caught my eye? Just like Pineau des Charentes, Floc de Gascogne is the choice of “les dames de qualité” for afternoon sipping with pastries and snacks. And honey—I just might have a pair of shoes for that, too!

Tags: wine | Pineau des Charentes | France