Cognac Tesseron Lot No 76

Gently push open the door of the Tesseron home in Châteauneuf-sur-Charente in Cognac, France to discover the family treasure : a unique collection of the finest cognacs. This treasure trove dates back to the nineteenth century when Abel Tesseron acquired this property and began his collection of rare and priceless cognacs. A tradition continued by his son and grandson Alfred, who runs the business today.

Unusually all three traditional Cognac grape varieties Ugni Blanc, Folle Blanche and Colombard are still grown on the Tesseron estates. Folle Blanche and Colombard have almost disappeared in the region as they are difficult to grow and produce small crops, but they are important as they add an extra dimension to the final blend. The grapes are gathered during the long, warm, sunny days of early autumn and fermented to make a low strength, acidic wine of around 8% volume.
The distillation is tightly controlled from the 1st of October through to the 31st of March of the following year. The Tesseron cognacs are double distilled in gleaming copper ‘pot’ stills heated by a naked flame. Only the ‘heart’ of the distillation is selected for maturation into Cognac.
Finally maturation occurs in the cool, damp Tesseron cellars dating back to the 13th century that were once part of the crypt of the local church. It is here that the young ‘eaux-de-vie’ are laid to rest, left in peace quietly to age and mature in old oak casks for many years. These casks were made by craftsmen from ancient oaks felled in the nearby forests of Limousin. During maturation the aging Cognac will gently oxidize or evaporate, and soft tannins will be absorbed from the old oak casks.

Today, thanks to a continual and ever increasing demand, the company is selling more and more of its cognacs under the Tesseron name. The cognacs within the Tesseron range are specifically labeled as ‘lots’, a term rarely used in Charente. As Alfred Tesseron explains : “These ‘lots’ are, in fact, blends taken from our reserve stocks.”