Nothing predestined Jean Grosperrin to settle in Cognac. A farm worker, shepherd, sheep shearer, he bought three stills from a traveling distiller in Lorraine, with whom he went from workshop to workshop distilling mirabelle, plum, quince, and so on. A few years later, he sold them to work in Cognac as a distiller. In the early 90’s, he became a campaign broker.
Because of his job, Jean goes to the most remote places of the appellation, to find small farms, looking for the rarest batches. In 1999, tired of seeing exceptional batches ending up in giant assembly plants, Jean buys himself some old cognac barrels, which the family bottles in a traditional way. New in Cognac, the story of each of these batches is told, and their age is specified.
The history of Grosperrin Cognacs begins.
In 2003, Jean retired and his son, Guilhem, took over. His project follows in his father’s footsteps. Passionate, he endorses his father’s profession of faith: «an unadorned testament to the charentais heritage». He takes over his father’s broker’s book and, in turn, enriches it with exceptional discoveries, especially in inheritances and confidential estates.
Guilhem decides to control all or part of the ageing, respecting the history of each cognac. He selects plots and initiates contracts with quality winemakers. He goes out to meet fans from all over the world, and refurbishes a 19th century cellar on the banks of the Charente, with the aim of recovering the ageing conditions that contributed to the reputation of the first merchant breeders, the pioneers of the designation.
In the cellars of the Grosperrin cognacs, each batch is a living testimony of a plot, a terroir, a past history, through the snapshot of a carefully-selected vintage or a single barrel.
Folle Blanche, Ugni Blanc, Colombard |
0,70 L |
Cognac |
42° |
Cognac
This cognac is made from Folle Blanche, Colombard and Ugni Blanc grapes of the 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 (10%) vintages from a single Grande Champagne estate.
Gold, World Spirits Competition, San Francisco, 2020
This vintage Cognac comes from a fruit producing estate in Saintonge. They started in 1971 with 10 hectares of Apple trees and now count over 100 hectares of different varieties of fruit trees, and only a few hectares of vines.
1974 |
Petite Champagne |
0,70 L |
Cognac |
Cognac
This vintage Cognac comes from a family of winegrowers in the region of Gémozac, Charente-Maritime, owners of an estate in Petite Champagne. The family produce cereals and also owns vineyards, which are nowadays organically farmed. Their vines grow on chalky soils. I bought this batch from one of the sons, that his father had produced 40 years before. It was originally a batch of several 559 litre barrels, which were stocked in the dry cellars of the ORECO until they were transferred to our cellars.
Grande Champagne |
0,70 L |
Cognac |
42.1° |
Cognac
A cognac with mysterious origins, which was not originally intended to be bottled. This cognac comes from a unique 400 litre cask, referenced in our stocks for many years. It has probably undergone some blends with cognacs of the same age, as happens sometimes to some of our casks that are not vintages, nor cognacs intended to be incorporated our collection. This cognac is not really a single estate, but it is a unique cask.
