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Now Viewing: Courvoisier
The origin of our history goes back to the beginning of the 19th century with Emmanuel Courvoisier and his associate, Louis Gallois, running a wine and spirit merchant company, in the Parisian suburb of Bercy. In 1811 Napoleon visited their warehouses in Bercy and he was hosted by Louis Gallois, the Mayor, and Emmanuel Courvoisier. Legend has it that Napoleon I later took several barrels of cognac with him to St Helena, a treat much appreciated by the English officers on the ship who named it "The Cognac of Napoleon”. In 1843, the son of Emmanuel, Felix Courvoisier established the COURVOISIER® business in Jarnac in partnership with Jules Gallois. When Felix died in 1866, his nephews and associates – the Curlier brothers - took over the management of the COURVOISIER® business.COURVOISIER®’s reputation as the finest cognac available, was again reinforced by Napoleon III who granted COURVOISIER® the title of "Official Supplier to the Imperial Court" in 1869. This certificate is now on display at the COURVOISIER® museum in Jarnac, with many other Napoleonic artefacts and memorabilia. In 1909, the English Simon family took over the COURVOISIER® business and started to build the COURVOISIER® brand identity and develop its global reputation. They established the Napoleon silhouette and introduced in 1950, the Josephine bottle, both of which are now recognized and renowned worldwide. COURVOISIER® is now owned by Jim Beam Global, one of the biggest spirits companies in the world. However, COURVOISIER® remains true to the same exacting standards of careful crafting and blending introduced by its founder nearly 200 years ago. COURVOISIER® takes enormous pride and care in the creation of its cognac, achieving the very best standards at every stage - from the selection of the grapes, the distillation, the blending of the liquids and the crafting of the barrels, which hold the ageing cognac. Over 1000 wine making families are in partnership with COURVOISIER® , many for several generations. These relationships bring years of experience and passion to the grape growing and selection process ensuring the best and most consistent product and starting point for the cognac. To maintain its legendary quality, COURVOISIER® only uses Ugni Blanc grapes and these are only ever chosen from the four finest Crus of the Cognac region: Grande Champagne, Petite Champagne, Borderies and Fins Bois. The double distillation process is specific to cognac, and takes place in a traditional Charentais pot still made of red copper. Produce from the first distillation, the "brouillis" is distilled a second time for "La Bonne Chauffe" (The Good Heating). The distiller must then separate the final product into 3 parts: the heads, the heart (the young cognac, a clear and pure eau-de-vie at 70% ABV), and finally the tails. Only the heart is used in the creation of COURVOISIER® . In line with the cognac regulations, the stills work day and night from the beginning of November until the 31st of March only. Unlike many of its competitors, COURVOISIER® only uses smaller stills in the distillation of the wine. This is because they allow better control of the quality and complexity of the young cognac. COURVOISIER® only ever uses French oak to create its ageing barrels. French oak is preferred by spirit makers worldwide because its age and finer grain woods add superb complexity and finesse to the cognac. The COURVOISIER® Master Blender personally inspects and approves every oak before they are cut, aged and then hand crafted into the barrels. These magnificent oak trees, from the state forests in France, are carefully cultivated and replanted to ensure a supply for future generations. COURVOISIER® ages its cognacs far beyond requirements prescribed by BNIC (Bureau National Interprofessionnel du Cognac), the organisation which maintains and controls Cognac’s standards. The COURVOISIER® challenge is to ensure consistency year after year, a difficult task because each year brings different vintages, different wines and cognacs of varying characteristics. The role of the Master Blender is to ensure this consistency and to craft only the finest quality cognac. During the twentieth century only four people have held this important and prestigious post at COURVOISIER® . Jean-Marc Olivier and his blending team since 1986, is ensuring the high standards of COURVOISIER® are maintained into the twenty-first century. I have a name for what I do: it's patient passion! I may not look very passionate to you maybe, but believe me, when I'm blending one of our classics or creating a new product I lose sight of everything else..."
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