Dear friend of fine spirits,
Germain-Robin now has FOUR single-barrel varietal brandies in release. The cellar has become a very interesting place: many many barrels (over 1000) of distinctive varietal brandies, going back to 1983. The single-barrel brandies are pure & focused: spirits concentrated by distillation from premium local varietal wine grapes.
We pick those grapes early to maintain high acid. This acidity is crucial for clarity of flavor and structure. We age the single-barrel brandies in Limousin casks – ones we have already used before, so that the subtlety of flavor isn’t overwhelmed by new oak.
The Colombard is our oldest release: 23 years. It’s a testament to how much flavor you can develop while leaving the alcohol as soft as can be. The Pinot Noir is from cool areas of Sonoma and Napa: more cognac-like than earlier PN bottings. The Semillon is maybe my favorite G-R brandy: masculine & profound. The Muscat, like the grape, is very intense. There are no brandies like these anywhere. It might be that these are what Germain-Robin does best.
Other news: we have added four distilleries to our growing list of Regional Craft Spirits. Cruise the individual brand websites: a lot of this stuff is pretty good.
We’re spirits makers, but that doesn’t keep us from having fellow feelings and enormous respect for hard-working and inventive Andy Quady, who has almost single-handedly put California on the map as a producer of world-class ports, dessert wines, & aperitifs. We’ve added four of his products to the list: try his Deviation, to my palate superior to the fabulous St Germain elderflower liqueur. The Vya vermouth from Quady will be in two of our forthcoming aged mixed drinks. Yum
Warm regards,
Ansley Coale