Martell’s latest cognac is the first edition of a new collection that honours France’s chateaus

 Martell’s latest cognac is the first edition of a new collection that honours France’s chateaus

 

The air in the winding Maison Martell in Cognac is musky and ancient, but this is the place where the old meets the new. This is particularly true in the Atelier, a room with glass walls where the blenders of the maison sniff, taste, and combine eaux-de-vie (the spirits distilled from wine made from Ugni Blanc grapes) of various ages to create a new cognac. A Charles Trenet song starts playing in my head as soon as I lay eyes on one of the 540 eaux-de-vie bottles on a table. This rare liquid will eventually be added to a reserve blend and then blended with another eaux-de-vie. 

The final combination then produces a new iteration of a Martell spirit, such the Reserve du Chateau de Chanteloup's L'Or de Jean Martell, the New premium cognac from Output 

Honoring what the maison refers to as the "French art de vivre," is the L'Or de Jean Martell - Reserve du Chateau de Chanteloup. Honoring the most prominent chateaus in France, it is the initial version of the maison's new collection. Situated near Borderies, the 16th-century Chateau de Chanteloup was selected as the collection's representative estate since it was the historic home of the Martell family. There are just 1,000 individually numbered decanters of the Reserve du Chateau de Chanteloup available worldwide; it will be introduced in Singapore on February 29, 2024.  

The art of blending

Maison Martell is the oldest of the great houses of cognac, having been founded in 1715. The archives, which consist of Tolkien-esque volumes containing copies of letters and notes written by the late founder Jean Martell and his successors since the maison's establishment, have been maintained with astounding attention to detail. The archivist at Martell, Geraldine Galland, said that if they arranged every document dating back to 1715 in a straight line, they would have 5 kilometers of archives.

According to Galland, "the most important document we have is a 1720 letter from Jean Martell discussing the value of traveling to the various Cognac crus (Borderies, Petite Champagne, Grand Champagne, and Frambois) and tasting with the growers." It enables us to comprehend his morals. A few growers that are family-run cited in the record are still employed by us 300 years later.

With the Reserve du Chateau de Chanteloup, the maison aims to preserve this 300-year-old art of producing great cognac. Christophe Valtaud, cellar master at Martell and just the eighth since the maison's establishment, took on a substantial portion of the challenge. As a native of Cognac and the son of grape growers who "grew up among barrels," Valtaud claimed that the marketing team's suggestions assisted him in conceptualizing the product.output

 He stated that the product brief was established more than two years ago and that "the marketing side understands consumer expectations perfectly and that helps to start the creation process."

Martell enthusiasts will recall that Valtaud contributed his knowledge to the maison's prior limited editions, such as the 2022 introduction of the L'Or de Jean Martell Zodiac series. Since then, the Zodiac edition has been released yearly. It is a combination of eaux-de-vie selected from various years representing the animal in the Chinese zodiac for that year. As an illustration, the Zodiac for 2024 is called the Assemblage du Dragon and has eaux-de-vie from the Dragon's years.

Valtaud claimed that he was able to be more imaginative with the Reserve du Chateau de Chanteloup, whilst the Zodiac was a little more methodical and exact. More than 1,400 eaux-de-vie have been matured in oak barrels that have been aged for 300 years to create the Reserve du Chateau de Chanteloup. ,Valtaud and his group of blenders believe that would be perverse and practically impossible. 

The blending crew initially separates the eaux-de-vie into groups of reserve blends, each with a unique recipe developed by a previous cellar master, in order to establish a basic profile. It's difficult to recreate each reserve: There are nine reserve mixes in the Reserve du Chateau de Chanteloup, with the Classe de Borderies being one of them. This blend alone has sixty eaux-de-vie.

The cellar of Martell. 

The overall complexity of the spirit is then increased by gradually blending the reserve mixes with younger eaux-de-vie. According to Valtaud, the precise order in which ingredients are blended can also affect the finished flavor. All members of the blending crew must adhere to the same protocol. "It's similar to adding butter to food—you don't get the same flavor every time you do it," he joked.

When it comes to blending, there are two golden rules: Before the final assembly, one should only combine the eaux-de-vie based on age, for example, combining the older ones together and the younger ones in a similar manner. Eaux-de-vie from two distinct crus or terroirs, like Borderies and Grand Champagne, should never be combined.output

Four crus provide the eaux-de-vie that make up the Reserve du Chateau de Chanteloup. According to Valtaud, "Frambis adds a fruity character; Petite Champagne offers a kind of style similar to Grand Champagne but less intense; Borderies gives a kind of floral elegance; Grande Champagne gives structure and power."