70 years of tradition handed down from generation to generation
Vineyard
An exceptional terroir: Grande Champagne
The vineyard is located between Segonzac and Mainxe, in the heart of Grande Champagne, Cognac's 1er cru.
Claude Thorin's vineyard is atypical for the appellation.Mainly composed of Ugni Blanc, it also includes plots of Folle Blanche.
Folle Blanche: a rare and historic grape variety
Claude Thorin is one of the few growers still producing this ancient, historic grape variety, which almost disappeared after the phylloxera crisis in the 1880s.
Today, Claude perpetuates this tradition by unveiling a folle blanche over 30 years..
Distillation
An independent winemaker, Claude Thorin
distills only his own wines.
Once pressed, the grape juice ferments
to become wine.
The wine is then distilled using the traditional "repasse" method. Distillation is carried out in 2 stages, to retain only the heart of the eaux-de-vie.Claude Thorin distills his wines with their lees to obtain more complex eaux-de-vie.
Thanks to the Grande Champagne terroir, Claude Thorin's eaux-de-vie are particularly refined.
LE VIEILLISSEMENT
A labor of patience, our eaux de vie
are aged in our century-old cellars.
The maturing of Cognac eaux de vie in oak barrels allows slow evaporation, poetically called "the angels' share".
This evaporation concentrates the aromas and develops the rancio notes typical of our old cognacs.
Maturation begins in new Limousin oak barrels for one year.
It then continues in "fûts roux" (barrels that have already contained Cognac), so that year after year they can develop a symphony of aromas.
L’Assemblage
Claude Thorin perpetuates the art of blending to create cognacs with a unique style, full of roundness and finesse.
Blending is a unique art, a perfect marriage that brings out the very best in each eau-de-vie.
This unique know-how has been handed down from generation to generation, ensuring that the family style will live on.
Each eau-de-vie is meticulously tasted to establish a blend with complex aromatic notes.
Claude Thorin keeps an inventory of the aromatic notes of each of his barrels to ensure that they can be tracked over time.