XO Archives - Winervana

Germain-Robin XO Brandy

The Maverick That Redefined American Brandy

In the world of fine spirits, few American producers have challenged Old World orthodoxy as boldly—or as successfully—as Germain-Robin. Long before “craft distilling” became a marketing buzzword, Germain-Robin was quietly rewriting the rules of brandy in Northern California, proving that greatness didn’t have to come from Cognac to rival it.

The story begins in 1982 with an unlikely partnership between Ansley Coale, a California rancher and former academic, and Hubert Germain-Robin, a French distiller from a Cognac-producing family dating back to the 18th century. Their meeting—reportedly by chance along a California highway while Germain-Robin was hitchhiking—sparked a shared vision: to apply traditional French distillation techniques to exceptional California wine grapes.

That decision changed everything.

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Dunill XO French Brandy

Dunill XO Brandy

Is it possible to get a quality XO brandy for $20? If this Dunill XO is any indication, the answer is no. (For just one comparison, Courvoisier XO costs $170. Most XOs cost at least $100, and go up from there.)

First off, this is Dunill brandy, no doubt named to confuse buyers with the Alfred Dunhill luxury goods company of London. The bottle, with its extravagant design to mimic crystal (it isn’t, of course), and its gold braid around the neck is further intended to convey quality. But, the faux “aged bronze” seal in the center of the bottle even popped off two days after I got it home.

Sadly, the quality just isn’t there. This is what the producer claims, “Produced in the South of France, out of the best grapes, and handcrafted in small batches. Distilled in the pure tradition of the region. The cellar master has extracted the most subtle aromas of the brandy through a very slow distillation and aging for 10 years in French oak barrels, to give the taste of an exceptional brandy. Deep amber color.”

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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.