is a
James Beard Foundation Award, and the wine and spirits editor
for
Bon Appetit magazine.
RéMY MARTIN LOUIS XIII Grand champagne cognac
($6,000)
This edition of Louis XIII is not just an exquisite cognac, it's
also a certified collector's item. Only 100 bottles (count 'em,
folks) of this special bottling are available, at a hefty $6,000
each. By the time you read this, Bill, Donald, and Oprah will
probably have scooped up theirs. The price reflects the hand-cut
cognac-colored diamond, weighing 1.25 to 1.35 carats, that's set
into the stopper of the Baccarat decanter. (For this price, maybe
they should have included an eyedropper as well.)
Louis XIII contains some brandi is that date back more than a
century; the youngest are around 50 years old. After blending,
Rémy's flagship blend is aged in barrels which are several hundred
years old.
Winston Churchill, who was very much a Francophile, at
least when the topic turned to beverages, celebrated his election
with Louis XIII in 1951. Beautifully poised and regal, this is one
of cognac's most sublime experiences.
GERMAIN-ROBIN ANNO DOMINI 2003 ($350)
OK, OK. It's not exactly cognac. But the brandies made by Hubert
Germain-Robin in
Mendocino County,
California, are qualified in
every respect to play in the same league with cognac's heaviest
hitters. Germain-Robin comes from a French family that began
producing cognac in Cognac in 1782. One day 20 years ago, he
happened to be hitchhiking north of
San Francisco when he was given
a lift by Ansley Coale. On the trip, Germain-Robin talked about the
loss of tradition in Cognac. Coale listened.