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1st Cru, LLC imports Ultra Premium Single Vineyard Grande Champagne Cognacs and Small Estate Wines from New Zealand in addition to brokerage representation of seven wineries from California, South Africa and Australia. |
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ULTRA PREMIUM — SINGLE VINEYARD COGNAC
Any story of great, Single Vineyard Cognac must begin...and end...in the first growth, the Grande Champagne region of Cognac. This is the region recognized world-wide as the cradle of the best Cognac. It used to be that “Grande Champagne” on the front label was all a Cognac needed. But now, being able to write the words “Grande Champagne” on the front label is only the beginning of the story. Now there is a better grade, a higher quality available. Now there is “Single Vineyard Cognac” from the Grande Champagne region of Cognac. To create this masterpiece, we bypassed the traditional Cognac houses and the negociants — we went directly to the Artistic Masters of Cognac, and then, into their private vineyards and cellars. We required that our Single Vineyard Cognac come from a single family estate within the Grande Champagne region, and that they be created by a Master Blender whose father, grandfather and great-grandfather were also Master Blenders, and whose family history in the creation of Great Cognacs goes back at least 100 years. Our last requirement was that their vineyards be no more than 100 acres. We sought out growers with a long tradition farming their own land, and we only accepted families with small farms, because on a small farm, every grape is important and gets the care it deserves from a family who cares, because it is their tradition to do so. We looked….and we looked. And in all of France, we found only two producers who met all our requirements AND made great Cognac. Their brands, and their family names are, Marthe and Francois Voyer. They gave us their best — the most elite Cognacs we’ve ever tasted. They are
THE SINGLE VINEYARD COGNACS Of The GRANDE CHAMPAGNE REGION |
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By French law, age cannot be put on a bottle of Cognac like it can on a bottle of Scotch Whisky. All non-vintage Cognacs are blends of several years’ grapes, thus Cognac age is referred to as an average “Age at Tasting”.
This works to the advantage of the large producers. They can blend a few drops of a very old cognac with an ounce or two of a middle age cognac, then fill the bottle with very young cognac and call it an XO, as long as the young cognac meets the minimum aging requirements of 2.5 years in oak.
There are two large advantages to the producer using this method. 1) - Economy. Using that much young cognac makes his product relatively inexpensive to produce, yet he can sell his XO for quite a bit of money. 2) - With the wide age range available to him, the blender has an easy job to duplicate the required flavor profile year after year.
The trade-off is in the quality of the mass-produced cognac. The flavor profile is relatively flat and the finish is short and hot.
The Single Vineyard Cognacs are very different in their approach to quality. For example, in a 25-year old XO, a Single Vineyard Master Blender might use only 23—27 year old Cognacs for blending. This makes hitting the right flavor profile much more difficult due to variances in the harvest qualities year to year, but the payoff is in the taste and the finish.
The flavors are bountiful, complex and intense. The finish is incredibly long, warm and pleasant. These Cognacs and their producers consistently serve to define the term, “Master of the Art of Cognac”. |
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Small E Importing Single Vineyard Cognac
Cognac Education
For the Trade
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Big Pecker Wines — CA Century Oak — Lodi, CA Clairault — Margaret River Lapis Luna — CA JanKris Winery — Paso Robles Ondine — South Africa Swagman’s — Margaret River Westerland — South Africa
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All About Cognac Aging |
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The Myth of “XO”
Many of the mass produced cognacs are famous for their XO’s, which carry more than their share of aura and mystique about them. This is because they taste so much smoother than the VS or the VSOP from the same producer. In reality, many of these mass produced XO’s are rarely more than 15 years old or so, with some of the most famous being only 10-12 years old. In Cognac terms, that is very, very young. As you can see from the accompanying chart at the right, our Single Vineyard XO’s are much older, with other qualities even older yet. As with any oaked spirit, older is smoother and richer. So for the same money, why settle for a younger mass produced cognac when you can have something really special? If all you’ve ever eaten is hamburger, how could you know Filet Mignon?. Taste a Single Vineyard Cognac tonight. |
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Any Name
After a Cognac has aged for 6.5 years in oak barrels, a producer is free to name the cognac by any name he wants. Witness the great Cognacs from Marthe, with names like Aquarelle, Fauve and Sepia. These term are derived from oil painting, as the producer wanted to honor the family matriarch, who painted in oils. |
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COGNAC & WINE IMPORTERS & BROKERS Since 1999 |
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COGNAC QUALITY |
MINIMUM OAK AGING REQ’D BY FRENCH LAW |
AVERAGE AGE OF MARTHE & FRANCOIS VOYER |
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VS Very Special |
2.5 years |
4 — 6 years |
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VSOP Very Special, Old Pale |
4.5 years |
5 — 9 years |
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Napoleon |
6.5 years |
10 — 15 years |
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XO Extra Old |
6.5 years |
15 — 25 years |
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Extra |
6.5 years |
25 — 40 years |
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Hors d’Age Tres Vieux Reserve |
6.5 years |
40 — 60 years |