About
The Beau family is one of the oldest Bouilleurs de Cru – artisanal cognac distillers – in Segonzac, the heart of Cognac’s first growth, known as Grande Champagne region. Samuel Beau started distilling in 1895, bottling and selling part of his cognacs under his own name, which at the time was quite unusual. By 1914 following both of Samuel’s death and the beginning of World War I, Samuel’s son, Paul, took over the family business. While he kept distilling, he decided to stop bottling the family’s eaux de vie. 1977 saw rebirth of this activity: the Beau family, meticulously taking care of its Grande Champagne estate, have since then kept bottling their cognacs under Maison Paul Beau brand as homage to the ancestors. The majority of the vineyard is planted to the Ugni Blanc grape, with a fraction of Colombard grown.
Beau harvests in October, fermenting with indigenous yeasts in temperature controlled vats for about 10 days. The wine is distilled in a red copper “charentais” pot still, with very few lees. The heart of second distillation is extracted at 19°C. The “Secondes de distillation” are re-distilled with the next batch of wine. The resulting eau de vie rests in refurbished “fauts roux” (3 years old or more) casks, some equipped with a new wooden top, bottom, and new staves.
Paul Beau VS Grande Champagne Cognac represents a tremendous value while maintaining the great high points of Cognac. Paul Beau VS Grande Champagne Cognac displays more fruit than any of its counterparts, and is not released until each barrel is truly ready. As such Paul Beau VS Grande Champagne Cognac is 6 years old, instead of minimum 2 years, as required per regulations for VS grade.
Paul Beau VS Grande Champagne Cognac is non chill-filtered, natural color, no additives, no boise, bottled at 40% alc/vol.
Tasting Notes
NOSE: Citrus, green apple, maple.
PALATE: Medium, notes of caramel, toffee, rich fruit.
FINISH: Medium, touch of pepper and caramel.