Cognac: essence of place

Cognac was made by the blenders. Through their international connections and commercial nous, the merchants created a global powerhouse that remains dominated by their family names to this day: Jas Hennessy, Jean Martell, Rémy Martin, Emmanuel Courvoisier.

Brand power has been the key to Cognac’s success, but has something been lost along the way? At a time when we yearn to know more about where our food and drink comes from, and how it is made, might VSOP and XO blends appear anonymous – soulless even? But not all Cognacs are made this way. For a number of quality-focused houses, the land is absolutely central to what they do.

Scroll down for Woodard’s tasting notes for eight terroir-driven Cognacs to try

Nowhere is this more obvious than at Frapin, which produces all its Cognacs from its own vines, and doesn’t make anything for anyone else. Frapin’s Château de Fontpinot property, with its 240ha of vineyards, sits in the lap of the Grande Champagne ‘cru’ sub-region, where the sponge-like chalk soils allow the vines to delve down 10m in search of water and nutrients.

The house’s Château Fontpinot XO and its vintage bottlings epitomise this approach, with all the processes taking place on the property, from picking the grapes to bottling the mature Cognacs, which combine extraordinary finesse with understated power. Look out for the imminent release of a Frapin 1989 vintage, aged for 30 years, as well as the ultra-high-end Cuvée Rabelais, which is blended from the oldest eaux-de-vie [individual distilled spirits] in Frapin’s ‘paradis’ cellars.

At first glance, Delamain’s provenance credentials may appear dubious. This is the quintessential négociant, blending and bottling eaux-de-vie, with no vineyards of its own. But that wasn’t always the case: the family only left farming behind in 1910.

Now, more than a century later, it has returned to manage 20ha of vines at Bellevigne in Grande Champagne. And Delamain has cemented this renewed focus on the land with its Pléiade Collection: annual releases of single-cask, often single-vineyard Cognacs bearing the names of hamlets and communes – Bonneuil, Ambleville, Bouteville – that may not be familiar now, but could one day be as well-known as Ambonnay or Le Mesnil-sur-Oger in Champagne.

Picturesque Bonneuil, with its rolling, chalk-flecked rows of vines, has already edged into the spotlight, thanks to Hine. The Domaines Hine bottlings from its 80ha estate in Bonneuil are an exercise in the exposition of terroir through Cognac: single-vintage, aged for less than a decade, with a light touch in the cellar allowing the distillate to shine.

‘We want to show what the vineyard does in any year – really closer to wine than to the conventional idea of Cognac,’ says cellar master Eric Forget. These elegant, delicate Cognacs show all the floral tension of Grande Champagne.

Regional diversity

Others have foregone Cognac’s heartland to explore the region’s huge diversity: Camus is the largest landowner in the tiny Borderies enclave, and has made a speciality of its Borderies VSOP and XO bottlings. The house has also tapped Cognac’s extremes, from the maritime-influenced vineyards on the Atlantic-lapped Ile de Ré island, to the warmer Dordogne for its Saint-Aulaye and Return to Saint-Aulaye bottlings, vintage Cognacs created from Colombard grapes.

These products are relatively rare – the Camus Saint-Aulaye releases were only 3,000 bottles each, for example – and, although they shine a light on the diverse terroir of the Cognac region, it’s important to remember that they remain exceptions to the rule of blending here.

‘Single vineyards, single years, single casks are all growing in popularity, which sits in opposition to the blending tradition, but these opportunities only really exist at the upper end of what nature can offer,’ points out Charles Braastad, Delamain managing director.

‘An eau-de-vie must be innately a quite extraordinary thing to reach beyond its possibilities as part of a blend and merit decades of standalone treatment from a cellar master.’

Terroir focus

It would also be unfair to accuse the big houses of entirely ignoring where their Cognacs come from. Martell has long been a huge fan of Borderies – showcasing the cruinits CordonBleu expression especially. Meanwhile, the house’s recently launched Dame-Jeanne Collection included a 1971 vintage from Fins Bois, which is not an area generally synonymous with long ageing and the highest quality.

‘All terroirs can produce exceptional Cognacs,’ explains Martell cellar master Christophe Valtaud, highlighting three key factors: the location and soil; the climate of a particular year; and the knowhow of the farmer, distiller, cooper and cellar master. ‘The 1971 Martell Cognac from the Dame-Jeanne Collection is a perfect example of this quest for excellence, where the combination of these three elements makes the eau-de-vie so special.’

Meanwhile, Hennessy master blender Renaud Fillioux de Gironde is responsible for making the world’s best-selling Cognac. ‘You could think that this importance of provenance is therefore less,’ he says. ‘In fact, it’s the opposite: we taste more than 10,000 samples every year to assess the quality of each batch.

‘We follow the quality achieved by each grape-grower. We know them, where they are, how they work. We work constantly with them to improve our ability to get the best from the potential of their vineyards.

‘As the master blender,’ Fillioux de Gironde adds, ‘my job is then to put together the eaux-de-vie to get the best blend possible. At Hennessy, for Cognac-making, “provenance” is not a destination, but part of the journey.’

Cognacs with a sense of place: eight to try

Camus Single Estate Borderies VSOP

From the smallest Cognac cru comes this lovely example of its signature style, with plenty of restraint but charming perfumed fruit and a floral undertone, backed up by vanilla and spice. Alcohol 40%

Delamain Pléiade, Collection Révélation, Bonneuil

This is a very different Bonneuil Cognac to the Domaines Hine example: long-aged, with scents of vine flowers, some almost confected fruit – sweet cherry to the fore – and alluring notes of nutmeg and cinnamon. Alc 45%

Domaines Hine Bonneuil 2010

The fourth Hine Bonneuil release, this shows the development of the concept with a perfectly balanced, elegant and fruit- forward expression of the excellent 2010 harvest, with light spice from the oak and a nip of menthol. Alc 42.1%

Frapin Château Fontpinot XO

Frapin always treads a fine line between elegance, complexity and structure – and this benchmark expression is the perfect example. Hedgerow florals, creamy vanilla and an edge of spice and tannin from the cask. Alc 41%

Guillon-Painturaud Hors d’Age

This is a reliable, historic house (the Pineau is also superb) with formidable aged stocks and 18ha of prime Grande Champagne vineyards, put to good use here with a medium-weight, power- meets-finesse Cognac that’s seen about 30 summers. Alc 40%

Hennessy XO

The original XO, this is a Cognac in a traditional style – rich and decadent, with powerful cask influence – and which epitomises the art of blending: combining a bewildering array of eaux-de-vie to make them sing. Alc 40%

Martell Cordon Bleu 

Of all of Martell’s Cognacs, Cordon Bleu brings the qualities of the Borderies cru to the fore, with its characteristic elegance overlaid onto seductive orchard fruits and sumptuous spiced vanilla. Alc 40%

Pierre Ferrand Sélection des Anges

From one of the most forward-thinking of Grande Champagne houses, decades in cask have left a velvet, seamless Cognac that melds dried flowers, plummy fruit, walnuts and dark honey. Alc 41.8%

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