Wine & Spirits - April 2013 - (Page 16)

COGNAC By Lou Bustamante While researching the history of some very old cocktails, I was reminded how many recipes were originally based on Cognac. Consider the OldFashioned, which some believe to be the ﬁrst cocktail ever created: It was initially based on French brandy, and not on whiskey, the king of the spirits world today. I decided to give Cognac a second look, and found that the current crop offers incredible value and quality. Some of the best new entries incorporate techniques like barrel ﬁnishing; others are enriched with stocks of older spirits. And, in a nod to the contemporary cocktail scene, several companies have released Cognacs tailor-made for mixing. To be called Cognac, a spirit must come from the region around the town of Cognac in southwest France; be distilled from wine made from the local ugni blanc, folle blanche or colombard varieties; and spend at least two years in French oak casks. Then it’s graded by age, using a rather cryptic system that ranges from VS (at least two years), VSOP (at least four years) all the way up to Hors d’Age (essentially off the scale in age), though the scale usually stops at XO (at least six years and up to 20 years). Prunier Cognacs Prunier started off as a Cognac trading company in the 18th century in the port town of La Rochelle before establishing a base in Cognac in the 19th century. Its brandies remain some of the most classic in ﬂavor, with lots of fruit and oak sweetness. Prunier’s VSOP, made from ugni blanc grown in Cognac’s prized Grande Champagne region, is a case in point, with aromas of pear and caramel and rich honey ﬂavors. A slight resin quality and light coffee ﬁnish give it extra dimension. The Family Réserve is blended from barrels at least 15 years old (making it essentially an XO) and from a variety of crus within Cognac. It explodes with cherry blossom ﬂoral scents and a richness of cherry and almond ﬂavors that almost demand a slice of clafoutis. Even Prunier’s 20 Years Old manages to retain a lovely, buttery fruit sweetness, rather than giving it up to the lumberyard essence of so many over-aged spirits. Imported by Frederick Wildman & Sons, NY; Prunier VSOP, 40% abv, $38; Family Réserve, 40% abv, $63; 20 Years Old, 40% abv, $78 16 WINE & SPIRITS APRIL 2013 Pierre Ferrand 1840 Original Formula Cognac Cognac Pierre Ferrand distillery owner Alexandre Gabriel and cellarmaster Christian Guerin designed this new release to taste like the kind of Cognac that would have shown up in cocktails in the days of famed bartender Jerry Thomas. Basing their recipe on brandy samples from the 19th century, including an impossibly rare and wellpreserved bottle of Pinet-Castillon, this Cognac is bottled at a higher proof than usual and aged lightly to add oak ﬂavor, but not so much as to lose the bright fruit ﬂavors it shows when proofed down. It’s not the most nuanced Cognac out there, but it also doesn’t get lost when mixed into a cocktail, remaining lively and forward with vanilla, caramel and butter ﬂavors. Check it out in an old-style Old-Fashioned. Imported by W.J. Deutsch & Sons, White Plains, NY; 45% abv, $45 Hine Cognacs Selected from Grande and Petite Champagne crus and aged for a minimum of four years, the H by Hine is drier and a little more delicate than Ferrand’s 1840, with an oak-inﬂuenced combination of coconut, spice and cooked-apple ﬂavors that read well in a classic Sidecar. On the other end of the spectrum is Homage, a salute to Englishman Thomas Hine, who started the company back in 1814. It incorporates three “early-landed” Cognacs, barrels of the French brandy aged outside of the region that matured in the UK from 1984, 1986 and 1987. It’s a robust Cognac bursting with ﬂavors of pear tart, with a terriﬁc cinnamon and vanilla tang, a spirit you’ll want to enjoy simply in a glass, worthy of toasting special occasions. Imported by Anchor Distilling Co., San Francisco, CA H by Hine VSOP, 40% abv, $44; Homage, 40% abv, $139 CAMUS Ile de Ré Cognac The Ile de Ré is an island off the coast of La Rochelle, where Camus ages a range of spirits. These are gateway Cognacs for Scotch drinkers if there ever were any—picking up the kind of oceanic qualities found in whisky aged in coastal Scotland. The Fine Island smells a bit like tamarind, with the inﬂuence of sea air showing up in a mineral note and a cooling menthol feel. The Double Matured has a similar fresh-ocean feel but takes the ﬂavors deeper, with tart cherry aromas, lovely spice and forest ﬂoor essence; it has a touch of sweetness from the second “toasted barrel” aging. The Cliffside Cellar, the lot that ages closest to the sea, shows more oak extraction, with a pronounced salinity and vanilla scent; the ﬂavors are wonderfully salty-sweet, caramellike yet earthy, almost peaty. All are best enjoyed neat, with an ice cube or a little bit of water, just like you would Scotch. Imported by CIL Amerique, Manhasset, NY; Camus Ile de Ré Fine Island, 40% abv, $49; Double Matured, 40% abv, $69; Cliffside Cellar, 40% abv, $99 Conjure Cognac I’ll admit that I was skeptical of Conjure, but not because of celebrity Chris “Ludacris” Bridges’ involvement in the project (he personally helps blend it). Rather, it was because of the wild mix involved here: It’s a blend of VS, VSOP and XO Cognacs (made by Birkedal Hartmann) rather than barrels of brandy. And yet, for the price, it holds its own among the heavy hitters in this tasting. The bruléed apple aromas take on elements of almond, violets, vanilla and clove on the palate, evidence of the older stocks in the blend. You can drink it alone, but it’s designed to mix in drinks. Have it in a toddy, or the way Ludacris drinks his, with a splash of cola. Imported by Branded Wines Import Co., Miami, FL; 40% abv, $33

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - April 2013

Wine & Spirits - April 2013
Editor’s Note
Happenings
Contents
Fined & Filtered The Digital List
Cognac: The New Wave
The Funky Bits: Alice Feiring on terroir expression in Comté
Pouilly-Fuissé Premier Cru
Pinot Noir’s Nerve Center
Where Tuscany Meets Liguria
Insider Chianti
Where to Eat & Drink in New York
24th Annual Restaurant Poll
Introduction
US Pinot Noir
Austria
Portugul Reds
White Burgundy
Loire
Tuscan Reds
US New Releases
Imported New Releases
Extreme Values

Wine & Spirits - April 2013