Le Cognac de Jean is a blend of 1969 and 1977 eau-de-vie from Jean Biais, who was a fellow vintner, distiller, and our neighbor.
Just after the Second World War Jean, who was originally from Cognac, married Mauricette Clavaud and began working with his father-in-law on the family’s Eraville property. Jean and Mauricette had about a dozen hectares of vines in Grande Champagne (Eraville) and Petite Champagne (Chateauneuf) as well as livestock in the beginning, but no distillery. Jean decided to install an eight hectoliter, wood and charcoal-burning pot still in 1960 and another 14 hectoliter one a couple of years later, after falling in love with the intricacies of the distillation process.
Jean was also passionate about the life of his village; he served on the mayor’s council for a number of years and founded the town social and hunting clubs. Beyond his involvement in his community, he was elected as the first president of the regional wine-growers’ union. He played an pivotal role, alongside Jean Brillet and Paul Hostaing, in negotiating the first contracts between vintners and the big cognac houses they supply. Since then, these agreements have become the norm.
After 40 years, Jean retired, leaving his 14 hectares of vines to his two daughters, Clairette and Josette, who continue to make cognac on the property today. Jean passed away in 2005 at the age of 84, but his legacy remains.
Our bottling of Le Cognac de Jean ties our two families together, and we are proud to pay tribute to our friend and neighbor. When Jean-Luc arrived in Eraville, it was Jean who welcomed him and helped guide him. Subsequently, Jean-Luc has aided Clairette in the cellars, actually blending these two vintages with her. This is a cognac of character, like the man who crafted it from grapes to eau-de-vie. Intensely spicy yet round, bursting with aromas of citrus, oak, and ginger, Le Cognac de Jean finishes in a warming black pepper fade.
