Chateau de Montifaud Cognac VSOP Petit Champagne

With nearly 90% of Cognac produced by the four big brands, family owned estate grown Cognacs are a rare and wonderful thing. Chateau de Montifaud was founded in 1866 and is now run by 6^th generation, Laurent Vallet, who spent ten years learning the art of distillation under his Father Michel before taking over. The grapes, almost entirely from the Ugni Blanc grape, come from their 320 acre estate in Cognac’s chalky soiled Petit Champagne region. The grapes are gently pressed fermented and left on their lees for three months before double distillation in three old copper pot stills. The resultant spirit is tamed by the careful addition of distilled water, often dripped in for perfect results. The clear spirit is then run off into old Limousin oak casks of between 4-15 years of age for maturation.

Smooth, satisfying and long with notes of fruits and nuts the Ch de Montifaud’s VSOP is a real step up in quality aged for between 8-10 years over twice the requirement.

In Cognac the term of Chateau can only be used if the grapes are estate grown and the resultant wines are fermented, distilled and aged at the Chateau, they are therefore exceedingly rare.