The world's oldest cognachus, established in 1619, with all parcels located in Grande Champagne. VSOP ages 8-10 years at cask and is soft, rounded and wonderfully nuanced with aromas of plum, brown sugar, date, Ceylon cinnamon, green walnuts and apricot. Lots of power and an incredible richness of nuance.
Gourry de Chadeville, with its unique landholdings in Grande Champagne, has a fantastic base for making the absolute best that the Cognac area is capable of. Production is highly limited and a constant demand from French connoisseurs minimizes the amount that can be sold for export. In other words, the family-owned Gourry de Chadeville is as far from a standardized airport cognac as you can get.
Owner Pierre Gourry says: "We only produce 20,000 bottles a year, but we could easily sell much more. It would just mean that we would have to force the rotation of the old cognacs in the cellars, and then we wouldn't be able to make proper cognac in a few years old. We don't want that."
All Gourry de Chadeville cognac is distilled and aged on the property. It is aged exclusively in Limousin oak barrels for a natural and deep coloring.
The confidence that used to characterize the Cognac district has turned to despair in the last decade. The image of the cigar-smoking big wholesaler, sitting in his comfy armchair and swinging his bowl of cognac, has turned against the district as consumers have become more socially conscious and the promising Asian market has been hit by economic depression. Nothing is so bad that it's not good for something. In fact, it's often in times of economic pressure that the biggest changes and initiatives happen: Over the past few years old years, the cognac style has been improved and refined, so that today the area produces better cognac than ever before.
The cognac district is divided into 6 areas: Bois Ordinaires and Bons Bois are in the absolute outer zone. Closer to the main town are Fine Bois and Borderies, and around the town of Ségonzac we find the last two areas, Petite Champagne and Grande Champagne.
In total, the district covers 1,132,500 ha, of which 80,000 are mainly planted with Ugni Blanc. Each of the aforementioned areas provides its own characteristics, but Petite Champagne and Grande Champagne are where to look if you want to know why cognac is the world's best brandy. It doesn't matter what base wine you use when distilling cognac. The wine is reduced during the process and only the right base wines can bring out and enhance the best basic characteristics. A bit like a chef reducing his sauce to bring out a greater intensity and concentration. The liquid is distilled twice. The first distillation, "brouillis", has an alcohol percentage between 27 and 30%, but it is distilled a second time to increase the alcohol percentage. The first distillate, also called 'la tête' (the head), and the last 'la queue' (the tail) are collected separately. The middle part is called "le coeur" (the heart) and it is this part, with an alcohol percentage between 69 and 72%, that is subsequently aged.
2 1/2-3 years old is usually the standard cognac of the Cognac houses, often with 3 stars on the label, while VSOP is a soft and more friendly cognac with a minimum of 4 1/2 years of aging behind it. The designations XO, Napoléon, Très Vieux etc. guarantee that the cognac is at least 6 1/2 years old years old. Fine Champagne is a blend of cognac from the Grande and Petite areas, of which Petite must not exceed 50%.
It is the aging in the oak barrel that gives the cognac its soul and quality - and prices are often based on how long the cognac has been in the barrel.
