Couvignac VS
Couvignac is produced by Distillerie de Chevanceaux/SVE (Société des Vins et Eaux-de-Vie), a long-established family distillery in Saint-Palais-de-Négrignac, south of Cognac. It is a substantial, multigenerational, family-owned Cognac distiller, grower, blender, cellar operator, and spirits producer whose roots lie in supplying and producing eaux-de-vie rather than building an internationally famous Cognac house name. The Cognac distillery at the present site was founded in 1896 by Louis Gautriaud, formerly a bouilleur de cru—essentially a grower-distiller. His son Ernest took over after 1926, followed by grandson Robert after 1956. The company’s own modern family history traces the family’s involvement in growing, distilling, aging, and blending Cognac back further, to 1830. Julien Nau and his sister Marie represent the latest generation of the family.
Distillerie de Chevanceaux/SVE is a surprisingly large operation. A 2024 profile reports two production sites, at Chevanceaux and Gensac, production capacity of roughly 11 million liters of pure alcohol annually, and approximately 5 million liters of aging/storage capacity. All that being said, the company has almost no public presence, and is very much under the radar.
Chevanceaux does have a substantial commitment to organic production. Its vineyard received Cognac Environmental Certification and HVE certification, and the company has pursued organic conversion and ISO 14001 environmental certification at the distillery.
Couvignac VS Cognac
This Cognac is double-distilled in alembic stills, blended from three crus and matured at least 30 months using 15% heavily toasted new French oak and 85% ex-Cognac barrels. The new barrels are reportedly large-grained French oak seasoned for 36 months and subjected to a high-temperature/heavy toast. That’s a fairly assertive oak program for such a young Cognac.
This Cognac pours a warm amber with bright copper glints. The nose delivers fruit-forward aromas featuring fresh pear, dried apricot, and apple. The palate offers a round and soft texture with flavors of honey and subtle spice. It has a warm finish with lingering notes of prune, vanilla and toasted oak. The combination of young fruit plus heavily toasted new oak provides a richer, somewhat more assertive style than you might expect in a VS, and I quite enjoyed it. The ABV is the usual 40%.
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A note about brandy vs. Cognac: brandy is a liquor distilled from wine and aged in wood. (Brandy can be made from fruits other than grapes as well, but that’s a story for another time.) Cognac is brandy that specifically comes from the town of Cognac and the delimited surrounding areas in western France. (The one which has the most favorable soil and geographical conditions is Grande Champagne.) So, all Cognacs are brandy, but not all brandies are Cognac. For more detail on brandy and Cognac, click here.
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