Cognac 101: EMW Fine Wines Shows Us the Ropes at Atta BJ
In the eye-catching Italian restaurant Atta BJ, on the third floor of the China World Mall, cognac in tasting glasses, finger food, cheese, and ham were set delicately alongside spices, fruits, and olives on a white marble table, making for a veritably classy first impression to Hine's cognac tasting event organized by EMW Fine Wines. The room's gorgeous floor-to-ceiling windows provided a view of the CCTV tower and the traffic on Third Ring Road, bringing a cozy atmosphere to the lofty proceedings.
Mathieu Jeannin, the winery ambassador of Hine, hosted the tasting. If you are a cognac lover, you'll be familiar with Hine. Created in 1763, and owner of 70 hectares of vineyard in the Grande Champagne region, this world-renowned cognac producer has been owned by the British Hine family since 1817, eventually becoming the sole official supplier of cognac to the court of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. If that wasn't regal enough, Hine's emblem is a recumbent stag resting on French soil, its head pointing toward England.
A lesson in cognac, it seems, is a lesson in history. Cognac is a blended drink named after the eponymous town in France where it is produced and double distilled from white wine. This region is divided into six zones, including Grande Champagne, Petite Champagne, Borderies, Fins Bois, Bons Bois, and Bois Ordinaire. Hine only uses the grapes from the two zones deemed best – Grande Champagne and Petite Champagne – where the soil is rich in limestone and chalk, and is said to make for the finest grapes.
Cognac is a blend of several different varieties of different ages: a cognac labeled V.S. means the youngest brandy in the blend has been stored for at least two years in the cask; V.S.O.P. means at least four years; and X.O. indicates at least six years (though this benchmark will be raised to 10 years in 2018).
Are you with me so far? Now that we've completed our streamlined Cognac 101 mini-course, let’s have a taste.
The first, a Hine H by Hine V.S.O.P., was developed 12 years ago with the assistance of mixologists, and is the youngest in the whole family. It proved refreshing and sweet, with intense floral notes, including jasmine, as well as apricot, yellow fruits, and spices, and is 40 percent ABV. Its sweetness means that it pairs particularly well with cheese.
Hine Rare V.S.O.P., the flagship product, and our favorite, came next. Also 40 percent ABV, the Rare is a blend of 25 cognacs with an average age of 10 years. The fruity flavors of candied apricot, ripe peaches, honey, fresh orange, roasted apples, and baked fruits also lend it well to be drunk with cheese, white meat, as well as spicy food.
Last but not the least was Hine Domaines Hine Bonneuil 2005. Using grapes only from Grande Champagne, it has a delicate flavor attributed to it having been aged for 10 years, with hints of white pepper, stewed yellow fruits, tropical fruits, and floral notes. To emphasize the aroma of the grapes, Hine store the cognac in a fine-grained wood cask.
We were also served cocktails made with H by Hine V.S.O.P, including a highball (H with soda water or ginger ale and bitters), and a sidecar (H with lemon drops, orange syrup, lemon juice, and bitters). We found that cognac helped to strengthen the underlying aromas of fruity drinks, especially the citrusy ones, a trick that can easily be employed when mixing drinks at home and making for a suitable final lesson to this thoroughly enlightening look at the world of cognac.
If you would like to do the same at home, you can check out EMW’s WeChat shop here.
More stories by this author here.
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Photos: Tracy Wang
