By cognac-expert:
ABV: 47.8 %
Growth Area: Fins Bois
Village: Matha Le Goulet
Bottle size: 70 cl
Lot: N°940 - Single Cask
Cask Volume: 206 L
Natural: No additives, non-chill filtered
Date of last reduction: April 6, 2017
Limited Edition: 152 bottles
L’ESSENTIEL is pleased to announce the first edition of L’ESSENTIEL Season 2, in direct collaboration with Cognac Grosperrin.
The Cognac in question comes from the heart of the Fins Bois cru, between the communes of Matha Le Goulet and Thors. The vines that produced the wine, and therefore eau-de-vie, came from merely a few hectares of vines at the named place “Chez Train”. This part of the Fins Bois is particularly reputed for its agricultural and wine production - the proof being that 83% of the land at this location is devoted to these cultivations. Moreover, Parish records dating from 1686 make reference to the quality of this sector of the cru. According to Guilhem Grospserrin himself, the terroir is textbook Fins Bois: clay and limestone soil.
The grower who sensibly cared for these few hectares of vines was not a winegrower by trade. He worked an arduous career at the local plasterboard factory, only tending to his vines and garden on the side. It is important to distinguish between farmers who cultivate vines, such as the gentleman who produced this Cognac, and dedicated winegrowers and Cognac producers whose career is entirely Cognac.
On this subject Grosperrin remarks, “But twenty years ago, in the Bois (Fins and Bons), they were mostly farmers whose primary activity was not wine growing. Either they were workers, teachers, craftsmen, farmers for themselves or for others, and they had some vineyards. Some of them cultivated the vineyard as their garden, and often at the same time. Today, even if I still meet many very small winegrowers, often retired, who have stocks that they have been able to build up thanks to other professional activities, winegrowers have become specialized, and Cognac has become a full-time "job". There are fewer "poets" than before...but this is changing, the new generation is enthusiastic!”
The harvest at “Chez Train” was carried out by hand and was completed within the period of one week. Interestingly, the grower’s intention was never to actually be the owner of his own eau-de-vie. His small quantity of wine was typically distilled and sold thereafter to a large house, which positively contributed to the farmer’s modest financial situation. However, the economic crisis of the early 1990s saw his contract severed with the big house. Consequently, he found himself the reluctant owner of his own eau-de-vie.
