Delamain: Simply the best

Posted in Cognac, Miscellaneous - 3 October 2009 - 1 comment

An old Delamain label that says it all.

I’ve said it, oh, ten thousand times, but Delamain Cognac is the best there is and if you buy anything else you’re, well, buying something else. This gem of a company located in Jarnac, upriver from Cognac, delves in Grande Champagne Cognacs only, meaning they sell only the best. That’s because they buy the finest Cognacs on offer in this prime growing region and only roll out modest amounts each year. Get your hands on their Pale & Dry entry-level Cognac for starters: It’s light, pale like the name says and full of vanilla and flowers. I can’t praise it more highly. Then try the next level, called Vesper. It’s even more deeply rich and surprising, all oaky and mushrooms. They have other, higher levels that will astonish you. Go to delamain-cognac.fr to get a great view of this house and all it has to offer. You can also read all about just how this house produces its miracles in my recent history book, “Cognac: The Saga of the World’s Most Seductive Spirit.” Santé!

Tags: Cognac, France

One Response - Add Yours+

footaghead says:

November 27, 2009 at 17:09

I live in Cognac, and I have been told that this is the favorite of all single men …..Delamain !!!!

a Cognac Cowboy

Garden of Demise

"Garden of Demise" is my latest stab at poetry -- some wouldn't even call it that, to be polite -- which tries to get "out there" about France and offer a different view, a sort of "other side" to the place. The collection, at the link below, is set up so you can click through the pages just like a book (making it all realer than real?). So, enjoy, and/or load me up with invective after you've read. What is poetry but a calling out in the dark? Are you out there with me?

Open publication - Free publishing - More poetry

I wrote "Cognac: The Seductive Saga of the World's Most Coveted Spirit" because no one had ever put together a readable, independent history of this marvelous spirit. My connections to Cognac country inspired me to dig deep into an incredible story that ranges from a

n exploration of the ancient bedrock, to the long and tortured development of wine growing in this region of southwest France, to the phylloxera epidemic that nearly wiped out the industry, to the fantastic machinery of modern, foreign-owned Cognac giants spreading their eau-de-vie all around the world. Frank Prial, former wine critic for The New York Times, called "Cognac" an "enthralling volume ... a compelling story, not just about the world's best known eau-de-vie, but about the people who make it and the often violent history of the remarkable but little-known region of France from which it comes."

"Cognac, la saga d'un esprit" est la captivante histoire du cognac qui retrace le développement de la viticulture dans la région depuis le temps des Romains, puis l'avènement de l’eau-de-vie au XVIe siècle, l’expansion de la distillation au cours des années 1600, ainsi que l’âge d’or du cognac au milieu du XIXe siècle. Tout au long du chemin, Kyle Jarrard révèle comment les distillateurs charentais ont surmonté l’agonie du vignoble après la crise du phylloxéra, il dévoile les facettes parfois curieuses de l’occupation allemande et parcourt tous les défis qui ont secoué la région de production, en particulier celui de l’excellente forme de l’après-guerre quand le marché s’est étendu aux quatre coins du monde.

Kyle Jarrard