Artisan Producers Offer a Voyage of Discovery

COGNAC Artisan producers ognac’s history and reputation are unrivaled among spirits. But despite associations with celebrities, elitism, luxury and opulence, at the end of the day Cognac is about dirt, grapes and a series of offer a voyage of organic reactions. The mysterious yet simple ritual of its cre- Cation—from harvest and crush to fermentation, distillation, élevage and bot- discovery tling—yields one of the most ethereal spirits ever known. Because of the recent rise in artisanal Cognac—an extension of the global craft-spirits movement—we have been able to re-examine brandy By Wyatt Peabody as a whole. And, thanks to the tireless work of a few determined import- ers, today we have access to small producers, most of which were all but unknown in the United States previously. San Francisco importer Charles Much of the wine made from Neal first introduced Dudognon Cognac in 1998. In the years since, Neal these vineyards around St.-Preuil in western France will be distilled has gone on to work with dozens of independent producers throughout and aged into Cognac. the Cognac region. DEC. 15, 2014 • WINE SPECTATOR 107 “Cognac has always been about terroir,” pro- claims Neal, who was brazen enough to start importing artisanal Cognac before people knew anything other than what the big four—Hen- nessy, Rémy Martin, Courvoisier and Martell— were selling. So how does one disrupt a seem- ingly impenetrable market, some 80 percent of which is controlled by four companies? For an enophile like Neal, it was by focusing on the winelike, site-specific nature of Cognac. Grow- ing regions include the coveted chalk-rich soils of Grande and Petit Champagne, on to the clay and flint of Borderies, the heavy, rocky, red clay–limestone of Fins Bois, and so on. But can terroir survive the distillation process? “Not only is terroir a real factor in Cognac, but the entire appellation was built upon it,” asserts Alexandre Gabriel, president of Cognac Ferrand. Gabriel—who has shown fierce dedi- cation to the spirit over the past 25 years—goes Alexandre Gabriel, president of Cognac Ferrand, proselytizes for the importance of terroir in Cognac. on to elaborate upon the three elements of terroir: geology, climate and maker. “Spirit-making is really about cap- of these purists choose not to use additives. Rather, they bottle their turing the essence of wine through distillation. And everything Cognac completely unmanipulated, allowing it to express a sense of begins with your raw materials.” place. And they are helping reinvigorate Cognac as we know it. Origin of the base wine has long been a guiding factor in Cognac. Seek out these distinctive bottlings: Gourry de Chadeville Single The six crus of Cognac were delineated in the mid-19th century by Cask Grande Champagne ($159) comes from one of the last wood- Henri Coquand—a geologist who established a soil classification fired pot stills, and one of the oldest makers in Cognac’s history. Jacky based on the quality of the distillates that each zone yields. Working Navarre Vieille Réserve Grande Champagne ($170) is the quintes- closely with a taster, Coquand overlaid the region’s sub-soils with sence of owner-grower Cognac, with meticulously made, unadulter- the attributes of its eaux-de-vie; his findings ultimately served as the ated expressions. Cognac Dudognon Réserve Grande Champagne basis for the 1938 decree that defined the production areas of the ($48) reflects the very core of Grande Champagne’s potential in its Cognac Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée. The grape distillates pro- silky, layered glory. For three generations the Février family has been duced in each of these microclimates render unique expressions that crafting unique reflections of the clay- and limestone-rich terroirs in are most eloquently articulated in their purest form. their Fins Bois cru Cognac Février Saveurs Fin Bois ($60). Cognac The purest expressions of Cognac are, in fact, single-vintage, sin- Grateaud Essence de Borderies ($122) captures the power and com- gle-vineyard brandies made by independent, artisan distillers, known plexity of the Borderies cru, entirely different from Fins Bois, Grande locally as bouilleurs de crus. Although permitted to do so by law, many and Petite Champagne. The Guillon-Painturaud family has occu- pied a Segonzac farm since the early 17th century, but didn’t begin bottling its own bold, fruit-driven eaux-de-vie until the 1970s; look for Guillon-Painturaud V.S.O.P. Grande Champagne ($58). At its core, Cognac is unique enough: specific grapes, regions and demarcations; certain kinds of stills in which the eaux-de-vie are twice-distilled to a specific proof; aging for an explicit amount of time, no less than two years. The Bureau National Interprofes- sionnel du Cognac and the AOC strictly regulate these criteria; however, they also allow for a degree of manipulation when it comes to the blending process. Most Cognac comes out of the still at about 144 proof and gets bottled at around 80. Dilution is achieved during aging by the ad- dition of either distilled water or a roughly 60-proof mix of water and Cognac called petites eaux. The other correctors are sugar syrup, used as a sweetener; caramel, for color; and boisé (boiled wood chips), which impart the inherent nutty, wooded characteristics of extended aging. Ideally, these are used more judiciously. “I avoid those things,” says importer Nicolas Palazzi, with rigid intensity. “Some people use additives properly and make beautiful Hennessy produces as much as 40 percent of the world’s Cognac. spirits; but many use these tools to mask the raw characteristics of MICK ROCK/CEPHAS BOTTOM: PHILIPPE ROY/CORBIS; PREVIOUS PAGE: 108 WINE SPECTATOR • DEC. 15, 2014 their distillates, because otherwise they wouldn’t be worth bottling.” Palazzi has led the most recent rise of artisanal brandy in the United States. This Man- hattan-based importer and bottler unearths minuscule quantities of superlative, hand- made Cognac. While some of Palazzi’s distillers use limited amounts of water, none of them use any other additives. Regardless, there is a long history of petites eaux and boisé in traditional Cognac production, and their use has become a key reflec- tion of house style. Anyone who dismisses such techniques should try doing so with a mouthful of Hennessy Paradis or Louis XIII from Rémy Martin. You might think this chasm in style and approach would force a battle between David and Goliath. Quite the contrary: The two camps have a shared history that spans centuries. Much as vignerons in Burgundy tradition- ally sold their grapes and wine to négociants, Jacky Navarre, who oversees his family’s centuries-old distillery, is an unapologetic Cognac purist. the Cognac appellation is home to hundreds of growers and distillers who have long sold their grapes and bran- have been forgotten by consumers long ago. dies to the large houses, which in turn have served as incubators, of In terms of the big houses, the primary goal of the cellar master sorts. Many of the greatest artisan producers of today have been able is to achieve balance and house style. Blending is crucial. Fortu- to sustain themselves only because of the large houses; some of them nately, the maître de chai has access to eaux-de-vie from hundreds even earned their wings working for them, in certain cases for gen- of sources, including vast stocks of Cognac that date back more erations. And in fairness, if not for the large brands, Cognac may than a century, from which the large houses are blending some of the greatest distillates they have ever made. The big houses also have the means to make reasonably priced What Is Cognac? brandies available to bartenders all over the world, who then pro- vide a gateway to Cognac via their own takes on drinks such as the Sidecar, Brandy Daisy, Corpse Reviver, Sazerac and more. “It imply stated, brandy is can be a relatively swift evolution,” asserts Steve Livigni, who a distillate made from France opened Los Angeles’ Pour Vous in 2012 as the first bar in the wine or other fer- PARIS S • United States dedicated exclusively to French distillates. “There’s mented fruits. While spectac- nothing quite like watching a patron evolve from slugging Side- ular brandies are made all over the world, in order for it MAP cars to sipping 30-year-old, cask-strength Navarre, neat,” he adds. to be called Cognac, it must • “That’s called moving culture.” N The Cognac Livigni is referring to is made by Jacky Navarre, a be produced within the Co- Cognac gnac AOC, situated in south- fourth-generation distiller who is among the staunchest purists of western France, about 60 the Cognac appellation. The Navarre family has been making Co- miles northeast of Bordeaux. gnac since the late 1700s, with little change. Navarre harvests by The region is divided into six zones: Grande Champagne, Petite hand and distills his traditional brandy on the lees; no additives Champagne, Borderies, Fins Bois, Bon Bois and Bois Ordinaire. are used, and the final alcohol proof is achieved through evapora- The most commonly used grape is Ugni Blanc, followed by Colom- tion over decades in the barrel. bard and Folle Blanche; other, less significant varieties play a part. “A true artisan Cognac must be just that. It cannot be a mere imi- These grapes are made into wine, which is then twice distilled in tation of an internationalized house style, produced in smaller vol- Charentais Alembic copper stills before being aged in French oak. umes,” Navarre contends. “Pure Cognac, made from single vineyards, There are three basic designations for Cognac: V.S.

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