VSOP Archives - Winervana

H by Hine VSOP Cognac
Click here for tasting notes.

H by Hine is a selection from Hine Cognac, a distinguished brand with a rich history which traces its origins back to the 18th century. Thomas Hine, a young Englishman from Dorset, traveled to France to learn French and the art of making cognac. He settled in the town of Jarnac, in the heart of the Cognac region, where he fell in love with and subsequently married Françoise Elisabeth Delamain, the daughter of a famous cognac négociant (a person or firm that sells or ships wine as a wholesaler).

Hine was made a partner in his father-in-law’s business, and developed a reputation for seeking out only the finest cognac. He expanded what was to become the traditional business of the Hine company: making bespoke cognacs for English wine merchants. In 1817, Thomas Hine officially took over the family business, renaming it Thomas Hine & Co. Continue reading “H by Hine VSOP Cognac”

Kelt Rare VSOP — For tasting notes, click here.

First, let’s talk 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 cognac, click here.

Until the early 1900s cognac was shipped in barrels. The long sea voyages had a profound effect on the quality of the cognac. When cognac started to be shipped in bottles, many felt something had been lost. Hoping to recapture that quality, Estonian-born Swedish entrepreneur Olev Keltes established the Kelt Cognac company in 1988. He began his career with the study of the distillation of cognacs as well as madeira, rum, and aquavit. It was this study that led him to rediscover the lost secret that quality improved in spirits that were aged in barrels on a long trip at sea . It is this maturation at sea that sets Kelt apart from other cognac houses.
Continue reading “Kelt Tour du Monde Rare VSOP Cognac”

A Note About Vintages

Although you will see vintage dates throughout Winervana, I don’t put too much importance on them. Major producers these days strive for a consistent style, and largely succeed. For instance, when shopping for a particular wine, if you have a choice between a current release and one that’s a few years old, there will certainly be differences in price and the character of the wine. But upon release, those two examples of the same wine are likely to be quite similar, especially for New World producers, who often enjoy more reliably consistent weather than Old World producers do. (Of course, global climate change may disrupt things for everybody.)

Wine Enthusiast has an interesting post about this here.