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Cognac’s Liquid Treasure: Melanie Tesseron in Australia.

"Claret is the liquor for boys, port for men; but he who aspires to a hero must drink brandy." Samuel Johnson (1709-1794)

“… anything this smooth, silky, potent, and aromatic, is truly great stuff. It is about as ethereal Cognac as anyone could ever hope to drink.” 100 points. Robert Parker (writing about Lot No. 29, October 2005).

“Tesseron Lot 29 will prove just how conclusively great brandy, like great wine, can absorb, modulate and reflect a kind of mineral beauty in the midst of all its other, more freshly sensual attractions…” Andrew Jefford, Financial Times, 2004.

“These (Cognacs) not only excite spirit experts, they also appeal to wine drinkers due to their complexity, subtlety and depth of flavour,” Max Allen, the Australian ‘Wish’ Magazine, April 2008.

In a region that is totally dominated by large brands (Hennessy et al control a remarkable 80% of the world market for Cognac) and their enormous marketing budgets, it can be hard for the artisanal producers to make any noise. And yet, thanks to the remarkable quality and distinctive style of their XO Cognacs, the Tesseron family are slowly alerting the wine world of the glories they have to offer. Although probably being best known as the owners of Chateau Pontet Canet in Bordeaux, it was in Cognac that the Tesserons first became renowned. In fact for over a century, the Tesseron family were very well known in the Cognac region for two things: firstly as a supplier of superb, pale coloured, pure and highly aromatic Cognacs to the famous houses, including Hennessy, Remy Martin, Martell, Hine and Courvoisier, etc, and, secondly, as having one of the largest single collections of ancient XO Cognacs going back some 175 years. Yet the association between the Tesseron name and Cognac was never made outside the region as the Tesseron family sold their wines exclusively to the big houses. Only in 2003 did they finally begin releasing some of their remarkable Cognacs under their own label. Today the Tesseron Cognacs are selected and blended by their master blender, Jacky Martia, from the vast collection of ancient reserves that the Tesseron family hold in barrel and glass demi-johns, to create the unique and beautiful XO Cognacs we offer below.

The quality of these remarkable beverages has do with a range of key factors including: the high average age of the Cognacs used (far exceeding the average ages of other, similarly priced Cognacs from the big brands), the almost exclusive use of fruit grown in the Grande Champagne area, Cognac’s finest terroir (only the Lot 90 isn’t 100% Grande Champagne), the exclusive production of XO Cognac, and, most significantly perhaps, the fact that The Tesseron family have always controlled every stage of the Cognac producing process (growing, fermenting, distilling, and aging) with a view to producing the highest possible quality. They are also one of the very few Cognacs producers to still utilize all three of the traditional Cognac grape varieties: Ugni Blanc, Folle Blanche and Colombard, (the latter two have all but disappeared from the region), and this again lends the older Lots (where these varieties appear) the complexity of a great, fully mature wine as well as a richness, smoothness, and ethereal finesse that puts them into a class and style of their own. Their pale colour of Tesseron Cognac, another distinctive feature that makes these wines so distinctive, is easily contrasted with the red/brown, caramel influenced colours, of most other Cognacs on the market (including many marketed as ‘artisanal’ in our experience). When combined, these factors make Cognac Tesseron totally unique, no matter whether you compare them to the large houses or the lesser known labels.  

The Key points below explain why these sprits are so special.

:: For over a century, Cognac Tesseron has supplied the ‘famous houses’ of Cognac with XO brandy. These customers include Hennessy, Remy Martin, Martell and Courvoisier. Tesseron today sell a small range of XO Cognacs direct, blended from their finest stocks. As you can see here, they are getting rave reviews.
:: Prices are very low compared to commercial XO Cognacs currently on the market.  Even the youngest Cognac (Lot 90 XO) in the range averages around 15 years old, yet the price is far better than most big brand XO’s (typically built on far younger material) and compares favourably with many VSOP Cognacs!
:: Lot 76 XO is over 25 years old yet still sells for less than most other XO Cognacs on the market.
:: The oldest, Lot 29 XO averages 75 years old and includes 5% of 1905 in the blend. This average is slightly older than the 70 year average that Remy advertises for Louis XIII, and when you compare the prices of these two Cognacs, not to mention the methods of production and the quality in the glass, you cannot miss the remarkable value offered by Tesseron. The Lot 29 recently became the only Cognac to be rated 100 points by Robert Parker Jr.
:: Almost all of the wines produced by Tesseron have derived exclusively from their own vineyards (Grande Champagne) enabling the Tesseron  family to have had complete control of quality from growing through fermenting, distilling and aging the wines they now offer.
:: Tesseron also has one of the largest stocks of ancient XO Cognac (going back to the early 1800s) in their Paradis cellars in Chateauneuf- sur-Charente.
:: Tesseron is one of the few remaining distillers to still utilize Colombard (for depth and power) and Folle Blanche (for finesse and aromatics). Most vineyards in Cognac are today exclusively Ugni Blanc. This is one reason why the Lot 53 and Lot 29 Cognacs are so vinous in style.
:: Although each Tesseron “Lot” number is not a vintage year as such, they do give an approximate clue to the average age of the wine.

Read more on each individual wine here

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Halliday reviews Graillot Australia

                     

The collaboration between master French winemaker, Alain Graillot, and Bibendum founder, Robert Walters, and their subsequent Graillot Australia wine project, is a subject close to all our hearts in our office. It has been an ambitious venture which has paid off, adding a set of wines to our portfolio, which we are proud to be distributing.

We were delighted to read James Halliday's thoughts on the wines in The Weekend Australian Magazine (April 14-15). Below are the scores, and here's a link to the full article, which you can read if you have a subscription with The Australian.

2010 Graillot Syrah

"Bright crimson-purple; a super-elegant medium bodied syrah that includes 10% whole bunches, plum and black cherry filling the bouquet and palate alike. It has great line, length and balance, but the key to the wine is its texture, built on fine tannins and totally integrated oak. As it turned out, the barrel-by-barrel selection resulted in the all the new oak wines going into Project No. 2. 13.5% alc; screwcap." 96 points; drink to 2025, James Halliday, The Weekend Australian Magazine , April 14-15 2012

2010 Graillot Project Syrah No. 2

"Deeper crimson-purple, it is a substantially bigger and bolder wine, with more power, more tannins and new oak. There is some clonal difference, and the grapes come from further down the slope; it is more Australian in style, but the balance is good. This wine will be made each year for the foreseeable future, and not simply as a recipient of the new oak. 13.5% alc; screwcap." 93 points; drink to 2025, James Halliday, The Weekend Australian Magazine , April 14-15 2012 

2009 Alain Graillot Syrocco Syrah (current import)

"The wine is from Morocco, between Casablanca and Middle Atlas, a region identified by Graillot as a result of consultancy work there. Bright, light red-purple, it is very fragrant and spicy, with Provence herbs and red berries. The palate is extremely lively and savoury, verging on mouth-watering, and genuinely different and intriguing. 13% alc; cork." 94 points, drink to 2023, James Halliday, The Weekend Australian Magazine , April 14-15 2012

For more information regarding any of these wines, please email orders@bibendum.com.au

Thünderstrück: Katharina Prüm (J.J. Prüm) in Melbourne

Frühstück 2012 – Union Dining, Richmond, Melbourne. March 14, 2012  

Photographs © James Broadway Photography