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BRANDY/GRAPPA, etc.
The most famous brandy in the world is
"Cognac". All Cognac is brandy, but not all brandy is Cognac.
The producers of Cognac would like the world to believe that this is the finest
brandy in the world. Of course, the really fine, well-aged brandies from this region
are excellent. But Cognac is not the only place on the planet producing wonderful
brandy.
Cognac is north of Bordeaux. It's brandies are, typically, distilled from
wines of little character. The predominant grape variety is called "St.
Emilion" (Ugni Blanc in other parts of France and it's known as "Trebbiano"
in Italy). Folle Blanche and Colombard are Cognac's "other" varieties.
Typically, Cognac is distilled batch-by-batch and undergoes two distillations.
The spirit is then matured in Limousin oak cooperage.
| V.S. (Very Superior) or Three Star |
30 month minimum aging |
| V.S.O.P (Very Superior Old Pale) V.O. (Very Old)
or Réserve |
54 month minimum aging |
| X.O. (Extra Old) Extra, Napoleon, Vieille Réserve or Hors d'Age |
72 month minimum aging |
| Fine Champagne |
A blend of Petite and Grande Champagne Cognacs, which must be, at
least, 50% from Grande Champagne. |
Armagnac is produced south of Bordeaux.
It has produced a brandy for many more years than has Cognac. Folle Blanche, Baco
and Colombard are the main varieties. While there are many large Cognac firms, the
situation in Armagnac is different. Comparing Bordeaux to Burgundy, the former
has many sizeable estates, producing a substantial amount of brandy and marketed
world-wide. The former has many small growers/producers who are unable to mount much
of a marketing campaign. So Cognac is to Armagnac as Bordeaux is to Burgundy in this
little scenario. Armagnac usually is the product of a single, pot-still
distillation. It is matured in either Monlezun black oak or Limousin oak barrels.
| V.S. |
36 month minimum aging |
| V.O., V.S.O.P. or Réserve |
60 month minimum aging |
| Extra, X.O., Napoleon, Vieille Réserve |
72 month minimum aging |
| Hors d'Age |
120 month minimum aging |
| Bas Armagnac, Ténarèze, Haut Armagnac |
Name of the 3 sub-regions of the area |
California is west of Bordeaux. California has a long history of Brandy
production, but a short history of really fine, connoisseur-quality brandy-making.
Though the firms in France won't take a back seat to California, we find there are several
local distillers whose products are superior to the mass-marketed Cognacs and
Armagnacs. That's the good news. The bad news is that the price tags on some
of their products are pretty high. Bonny Doon and St. George Spirits make some
excellent "white alcohols", distilling a variety of fruits. We find some
of their products to be as good as their European counterparts.
California Brandy Terminology
Most California Brandies fall into one of these two
categories. |
| D.T.G.S. |
Damn, That's Good Stuff! |
| W.I.T.S. |
What Is This Stuff??? |
Oregon is north of California. It has a modest history of
brandy production. The Clear Creek Distillery in Portland produces wonderful
eaux-de-vie! Stephen McCarthy has a pear brandy as good as any we've tasted in our
numerous journeys to France, Italy, Germany or Switzerland!
Spain is another good source of oak-aged brandies.
The region of Jerez, famous for Sherry, is probably the most highly-regarded area
for Spanish brandy production. Most producers use "continuous" stills,
though there are a couple of producers using Cognac-styled stills. We have a few
terrific Spanish brandies and these are worth exploring if you're not yet familiar with
them.
Italy produces a tremendous amount of distilled products.
"Grappa" and "Aquavite" are to be found everywhere. The former
is distilled from the fermented skins of grapes, while the latter is distilled from
unfermented juice. These range from sublime to rocket-fuel. Some are produced
from red grapes, some from white. Typically, smaller distillers bottle
single-varietal grappas (grappe in Italiano). Many vintners sell their
pressed grape skins to a local distiller. Whether the grappa they receive in return
is actually from their own fruit is another question, though most claim this to be the
case.
What We Like:
- DUDOGNON
 The
Dudognon family has been growing grapes in the region of Cognac since the
United States declared its independence from Great Britain.
They're in the town of Lignières-Sonneville, a short walk from Ambleville
in the heart of the Cognac sub-region called Grande Champagne. The
soils are rather chalky here and said to produce top quality brandy as a
result.
Claudine Dudognon runs the estate with her husband Gerald Buraud. The
couple distills wine from the Ugni Blanc, Folle Blanche and Montils grape
varieties and exclusively fruit from their own estate vineyards. The
Ugni Blanc predominates, though.
Claudine's late father, Raymond Dudognon, was a major figure in the region
and he was well-known to those in the Cognac scene. Most of Dad's
production was sold in bulk to negociant firms and he distilled using a
wood-fired alembic still. Years later he switched to a gas fire, but
when teaching his daughter, he insisted she learn his craft using an
old-fashioned wood fire. This, he said, would allow her to have
greater skill in her work doing the distillation.-
- Claudine and Gerald have become very well-known for their Cognacs.
I was surprised to note how highly-regarded they are in France,
particularly by fancy dining establishments. It doesn't seem to me
they do much advertising, yet their Cognacs are found in top restaurants
and they're favored by savvy sommeliers.
I read that the couple has done some interesting experiments in the
interest of making improvements to their Cognacs. One involved
making a wine that was a blend of the three grape varieties and distilling
that. It seems, however, the results were not as good as distilling
each grape variety separately and making a calculated
"assemblage."
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- While most large houses incorporate various additives to their spirits,
Dudognon's lone "additive," if you will, is water. Big firms
tend to try to take some shortcuts, since actually maturing the spirit in
wood (where a significant portion evaporates) is costly. As a result,
you'll find caramel, sugar and an oak flavoring to be used by most houses,
though none admit this publicly.
-
 We
have their Reserve Cognac which carries the Grande Champagne appellation.
This is said to be a ten year old spirit, though I've heard it's even a bit
older than that.
You'll see the color of this brandy is light...again, it's not been
"fortified" with sweeteners to make it approachable as a younger
spirit. It's bottled in its natural state.
Though it costs fifty bucks a bottle, I can tell you that we see numerous
"repeat customers" for this, even if it is a bit of a splurge for
most folks.
Their Vieille Reserve is a 20+ year old spirit. It doesn't come in a fancy
bottle, nor does it have an expensive advertising campaign to convince
consumers of its quality. But it's "in the bottle" and this
spirit speaks eloquently. The aromas are mildly nutty and
floral. There's a sweet aspect to this in its fragrance and on the
palate, though sugar is not part of the equation. Swirling a small
amount in a nice wine glass allows the perfume to be more expressive and
it's quite complex. The finish is long, too...
The company gained worldwide fame recently when they collaborated on a
bottle containing some of their precious, extremely old Cognac. A
jeweler was involved in this production, too, creating a bottle that has
gold, silver and diamonds and it's being ransomed for more than a couple of
million dollars by some enterprising merchant.
The bottles in our shop are rather ordinary, unless you consider cellophane
wrapping to be "deluxe." But the spirit contained by these
simple flagons is of exceptional quality and we highly recommend
them.-
- Currently in stock: DUDOGNON "RESERVE" Grande Champagne
COGNAC $49.99 (750ml)
DUDOGNON "VIEILLE RESERVE" Grande Champagne COGNAC $99.99 (750ml)
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- FRANÇOIS PEYROT
 Though the
Peyrot family has been in the Cognac region since the late 1800s (and probably
before), the family did not enter the distillation business until the
1950s.
Today, three generations later, they're making a distinctly grand Cognac with
the XO designation.
First, they're practicing culture raisonnée, a farming practice that's
close to organic and produces grapes of better quality.
They do a fine distillation and the brandy is matured for about 25 years
resulting in a spirit with a wonderfully sweet perfume. The flavor is deep
and complex, showing notes of vanilla and toasted nuts. The finish lingers for
minutes...really good.
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PEYROT XO $84.99 (750ml)
 GABRIEL & ANDREU
The Cognac from this firm has finally returned to the market.
We can special order their entry level Borderies for you...around $45 a bottle.
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- DELAMAIN
For such a connoisseur's Cognac and having a national importer in the U.S.,
Delamain is virtually unknown. Perhaps it is better this way. They bottle only
Grande Champagne Cognacs. Only recently did they even label their "young"
Cognac with any sort of age designation familiar to the Cognac neophyte! For years
this has been known as nothing more than "Pale & Dry". Today the label
has "X.O." on it! It is still extremely pale and very dry. In buying
Cognac from independent growers and distillers, they will accept nothing younger than a 15
year old Cognac! We usually have the Pale & Dry in stock and will be happy to
order for you their Vesper, Tres Venerable or the Réserve de la Famille for you.
Pale & Dry X.O. Grande Champagne SALE $99.99
- KELT
This is the work of a fellow who acts somewhat as a negociant, doing no distilling
of his own. He purchases old Cognacs and then assembles them to suit his palate. The
unusual feature of Kelt's Cognac is that he puts the spirits in barrels and then ships
them on a three month ocean voyage before bottling! Some claim the rather constant
and gentle motion of the sea voyage helps add a note of maturity to the Cognac.
Kelt "Tour de Monde" V.S.O.P. Grande Champagne $55.99
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- MORE BRANDIES WE LIKE
GRAPPA
CALVADOS
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