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Great Lakes Area Wine Brokerage
Cognac Education
Tasting Cognac -- Step by Step Aging Cognac -- VS, VSOP, XO, etc. Cognac Trivia -- Napoleon who? What Does Grande Champagne Mean?
Single Vineyard Cognac
For the Trade
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Cognac Lovers & Wine Brokers since 1999 |
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©2007-2010 — 1st Cru, LLC — (970) 566-7862 — CONTACT |
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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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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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Grande Champagne Region |
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Drawn in 1909 by the French government, this map shows the position of the Cognac Region within France (see inset top right) and it shows the six growth regions within Cognac. These are called “Cru”. The region is roughly centered on the town of Cognac, which shows up in gray between Grande Champagne and the Borderies.
The Grande Champagne, home of Cognac Marthe and Cognac Francois Voyer, is the First Growth, or First Cru. It produces absolutely the best Cognacs in all the world.
The lesser Cru’s are, in order, (2) Petite Champagne, (3) Borderies (4) Fin Bois (5) Bon Bois and (6) Bois Ordinaires. |
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The Cognac Region of France |