Single-vineyard Cognacs

Frapin’s Château Fontpinot
near Segonzac in the heart of the Grande Champagne.

Cognac isn’t like single malt – or, at least, most of it isn’t. When you buy a bottle of Lagavulin or Glenfarclas, you know precisely where it’s from, whether it’s Islay’s wave-lashed coast or the heart of Speyside.

The vast majority of Cognac, on the other hand, is blended from a dizzying number of individual eaux-de-vie to achieve a harmonious whole. The concept of provenance is nebulous – Cognac’s vineyard is enormous, stretching from La Rochelle in the north to the Bordeaux vignoble in the south.

There are, however, exceptions. While Cognac is dominated by the big houses – Hennessy, Martell, Rémy Martin and Courvoisier – smaller operators often create Cognacs from their own vineyard holdings. Seek out Jean-Luc Pasquet, Jean Fillioux, Michel Forgeron, Château Montifaud and more from specialist online retailers such as The Whisky Exchange, Master of Malt and Brandyclassics.

Delamain’s lofty reputation for Cognacs of great pedigree was built on the négociant model of buying and maturing eaux-de-vie to fit its specification. But in 2019, Delamain returned to the land for the first time in more than a century, taking over the management of a 21ha vineyard in the heart of Grande Champagne (the highest-rated Cognac sub-region). Aged releases from that lieu-dit, La Rambaudie, are a key element in Delamain’s high-end Pléiade range and exhibit a character that’s pure Delamain: elegant, fragrant, but with a deceptive structure and complexity.

Like Delamain, Hine pursues a predominantly négociant model, but this house has always been close to the vine – and, since 2005, it has released a series of single-vineyard Domaines Hine Cognacs, sourced from its 65ha of vineyard at Bonneuil, just a short distance from La Rambaudie. These are hugely expressive Cognacs, eschewing long ageing for a fresh and unmistakably vinous character.

And then there’s Frapin’s Château Fontpinot. The Frapins settled near Segonzac, in the heart of Grande Champagne, some 750 years ago, first as wine-growers, then as distillers. Today, it makes every drop of Cognac from its 240ha of vineyards, and doesn’t sell it to anyone else – still a rarity in a region dominated by the blender and the broker.

Delamain’s high-end La Rambaudie Cognac. Credit: Brice Braastad / Episode II

One to try

Frapin Château Fontpinot XO Grande Champagne Cognac

France

Every part of the process of creating this classic – from growing the grapes to making the wine, distilling the spirit and ageing the eaux-de-vie – was conducted at Frapin’s Château Fontpinot. It’s quintessential Frapin, combining floral and zestily fruity delicacy with resonant depths of dark honey, fig and that elusive note of rancio that only comes with age. Alcohol 41%

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