Bache-Gabrielsen Very Old Pineau Tres Vieux

Volume: 0.75 litres | Alcohol content: 17%

Special Features:

Extended cask ageing shapes this white Pineau des Charentes: Bache-Gabrielsen's Très Vieux spends more than ten years in Limousin oak casks. To make it, sugar-rich white grape must and very young, high-strength Cognac are blended on the day of harvest. The mixture then ages together in cask.

This bottling brings together the grape varieties Ugni-Blanc, Colombard, Folle Blanche, Sémillon, Sauvignon and Montils, as well as the growing areas Fins Bois, Borderies, Petite Champagne and Grande Champagne. The Pineau is amber in the glass. Its vanilla notes come from the Limousin oak, alongside pronounced rancio and impressions of nuts, dried apricots and mature Cognac.

The Pineau has an alcohol content of 17% and comes in a 0.75-litre bottle. Served chilled, it works as an aperitif or alongside blue cheese and desserts. Oysters also provide a salty contrast to its sweetness.

Tasting Notes:

• Nose: On the nose, honey and dried plums mingle with candied orange.
• Palate: The Pineau is fruity on the palate, with notes of hazelnut butter, dried fruit and gingerbread.
• Finish: The finish is rich, rounded and supple, with pronounced rancio notes.

Distillery/Bottler:

Bache-Gabrielsen connects Norwegian family history with the wine-growing region of Charente. Thomas Bache-Gabrielsen arrived in Cognac in 1903 and, two years later, acquired the house of A. Edmond Dupuy, founded in 1852, together with his Norwegian partner Peter Rustad. This became the family business Bache-Gabrielsen. In 2009, Hervé Bache-Gabrielsen took over its management as the fourth generation of the family.

Selecting, cask-ageing and blending Cognac are important parts of the house's work. Jean-Philippe Bergier became cellar master in 1989, overseeing the selection of eaux-de-vie, their development in wood and the creation of blends. In 2015, three cellar buildings were established in Louzac-Saint-André near Cognac: two for storage and one for blending. This brought the storage and ageing of the house's eaux-de-vie entirely in-house.

Facts: