Showing posts with label cognac. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cognac. Show all posts

Thursday, September 15, 2011

“Living Loaded”: The Wine and Spirits Travel Adventures of Dan Dunn

I write about wine and spirits travels around the world, but none of my adventures can quite compare with those of Dan Dunn. After all, how do you compare anything to the life of a wine and spirits writer who works for Playboy?

Living Loadedis the true story (with a few exaggerations thrown in there) of Dan Dunn, a liquor and wine writer whose main outlet is Playboy Magazine. Dan spends more than half his life traveling around the world. His dysfunctional upbringing in Philadelphia and inability to commit to a long term relationship fuels his need for heavy duty sex, drugs and booze. And these vices fit nicely in his profession. It is a battle he often discusses with himself, though not in the same way his mentally disabled mother does.

My life lends itself to more time for writing books than reading them, but this one had me engaged from beginning to end. There was times when I shook my head in disbelief and others when I smiled because I totally got it, but most of all, I spent a descent amount of time laughing out loud.

Beyond the fact that Dan is in the same professional as I am (well, sort of, my adventures are much more PG rated), there’s another reason I was anxious to read this book.  I was actually on a spirited adventure with Dan Dunn when he was starting writing Living Loaded. No, it wasn’t the kind of adventure depicted in this book, it was a Cognac trip with DISCUS (left). It was my first trip in this field, and I was thrown into the fire with some heavyweight booze writers. Dan was one of the writers that made me feel like I somewhat knew what I was doing (he also gladly finished any cognac samples I didn’t want).

Anyone reading Dan’s exploits in Living Loaded might think of him as a jerk (sorry, Dan, but keep reading…), but the ironic thing is je anything but that. He is actually a rare gentleman that will hold the door open for you (and not open the only door between your bedrooms). So, before you sit down with Living Loaded – and you should – keep that in mind. 

It all comes down to a conversation with his editor, one all of us in the business have had with a friend, family member or someone we were working for…

Editor: “Traveling the world, drinking and eating, having to type all those big words with your tender little fingers;. I’m sure it’s simply devastating.”
Dan Dunn: “It’s a grind, is all I’m saying. Being on the road all the time, the booze, the jetlag. Deadline pressure. And the pay isn’t want it used to be. It takes its toll.”

It does. And the only way to truly understand this is to get a copy of Living Loaded from Amazon and check out Dan Dunn’s Imbiber column.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Cognac in Cognac


My first venture into the world of spirits travel came just a few months ago as I had the good fortune to be invited on a press trip to Cognac, France. We were quite a group -- journalists specializing in spirits (and/or travel) and representatives from the four major cognac producers.

The trip began in the lounge of British Airways at JFK, where we met for the first time to embark on our weeklong journey. I would highly recommend Open Skies, as an affordable all business class alternative to Paris, with comfortable seats and excellent food. It was my first venture into Paris’ Orly airport and I was pleasantly surprised with how quickly we were out of there and on a bus to Montparnasse train station.

From Montparnasse in downtown Paris, you can reach Angouleme on the high speed train in about three hours. From there it’s just a scenic 30 minute ride to Cognac, where our first night was at Chateau de L’Yeuse, a quaint and beautiful accommodation where we could have tea on the terrace, overlooking the rolling hills and greenery of Cognac.

Exploring the Town
Cognac is more than a drink, it’s a town full of cobblestone streets on the banks of the Charente River. The shops and cafes line the streets, which provide for a great walking tour if you don’t want to take the tram from the Tourist and Information Office. We strolled up Vieux Cognac and past the striking architecture of the Musee des arts du Cognac (Art & History Museum); the Chateau and Saint-Jacques Gate (the town's walls); and the river that leads to the Gabare and Marina. In the middle of the town is the statue of King Francis I, born in Cognac in 1494. There are also two churches, Saint Leger's and Saint Martin’s, which date back to the 11th and 12th century.

The Drink and on to the Big Four
There are four regions in this area that produce Cognac -- Grande Champagne, Petite Champagne, Borderies, Fin Bois, Bon Bois and Bois Ordinaires. The basic process of the beverage is simple: it starts with wine; turns to eau-de-vie; and is blended into cognac. I also learned what those letters on the bottle mean: VS-Very Special; VSOP-Very Superior Old Pale; and Napoleon XO-Extra Old.

The reason cognac is so much more expensive than wine is because of the aging. Starting with a liter of wine, after 20 years of aging, you have two thirds of a liter. In an additional 30 years, there’s just half a liter. And, after a hundred years, there is only 10% of the original liquid. It is the blending of these “eau-de-vies” of various ages that makes cognac -- the older the liquid in the blend, the more expensive the drink.
Cognac was first produced in the middle ages and today 96% of the world's cognac made in France. The majority of that (80%) comes from four major distilleries -- Hennessy, Martell, Remy Martin and Courvoisier.

Hennessy
The day started bright and early with a true French breakfast of croissants, fruit, cheese and yogurt. We headed through the windy roads of Cognac to the Hennessy Vineyards. Cyrille Gautier-Auriol, Hennessy's Ambassadeur de la Maison, met us there to show us the vineyards, explaining how the grapes from this region don't make great wine, but they produce outstanding brandy — which can be blended for the best cognac.

These company-owned vineyards are not the main source for Hennessy. They use nearly 2,000 different growers from the region. Hennessy also maintains a Visitors Center downtown where there are rare bottles, as well as an exhibition on its history. (The company was started by Irish Richard Hennessy, who realized the best brandies where coming from Cognac..)

From the Visitors Center we took a short boat ride to the Distillery and Aging Warehouse across the River. From there we were then whisked off to the Tasting Room, where the Maurice Hennessy himself joined us. We sniffed, smelled and tasted our way from 180° pure alcohol to the eau-de-vies and samplings of XO, Paradis and finally Richard Hennessy, the most expensive in the line.

Martell
The experience at Martell was a bit different as the company has its own cooperage (to make barrels for aging) so we learned quite a bit about wood. Martell uses fine grain woods to make finer and denser cognacs. To illustrate the point, we were taken to the company's cooperage for a fascinating barrel-making lesson.
Martell's Distillery had a tasting for us of VSOP, XO and Cordon Bleu. Then it was on to the Founder's House, former home of the company’s founder, John Martell. It is definitely worth a visit as the house, originally built in the 1700s, and is full of historic photos and documents.

We spent the evening at Martell's estate, Chateau Chanteloup where were treated to an incredible meal, a special tasting of their prized L'Or Cognac and one of my favorite wines, Jacob's Creek Riesling (also produced by the Pernod-Ricard group). After dinner and cognac, we were treated to a welcome by some of Chateau Chanteloup's residents -- a group of deer that enjoyed the attention as they ate out of our hands! Then it was off to bed to rest up for the next day’s distilleries.

Remy Martin
We began the day in the visitors' center and were given an introduction to Remy Martin . The company began in 1724 and produces 1.8 million cases per year. They only use the Petite Champagne and Grande Champagne vineyards in Remy products, using 500 different distillers.
We walked through the cellars, with the smells from the barrels permeating the room , before heading onto the Remy Martin tram. Then it was on to the blending room, where we got to make our own cognac. After blending came tasting of Remy Martin’s cognacs.

Lunch was at Remy Martin’s Chateau Saint Martial estate. The weather was just perfect and it led to an incredible scene as we sipped cognac and enjoyed the countryside before the afternoon’s activities.

Note: Remy Martin will customize your visit experience with "Les Rendez-vous Remy Martin," a collection of offerings that allow visitors to customize their cognac experience with tours, tastings and meals

Courvoisier
Courvoisier was my final stop on the Cognac tour, just outside the town of Cognac. Courvoisier ‘s visitor's center is in Jarnac, displaying cognac and the brand’s historical connection to Napoleon. Courvoisier stresses the senses throughout our tour:

(Hear) Blending-Matured Grande and Petite Champagne, at their peak;
(See) Colour-Deep golden-amber;
(Smell) Aroma-Cigar box, liquorice, hazelnut, old port wine, ginger bread, orange blossom;
(Feel) Body-full bodied, mellow, round;
Taste-Very complex and elegant -- rich -- supple -- tender -- stylish.

The distillery tour brought us through the making of Courvoisier and tastings of their products. We spent the evening at Chateau Courvoisier, with a tour of the Privi (Paradise) Cellar, with bottles and barrels dating back centuries.

After our visits with the final four, we spent a day (and night) at
Hotel Napoleon Paris
before heading back home with a great experience – and a new subject to write about.

Another way to learn about cognac
I was lucky enough to have my cognac education hands on as I toured the region and tasted at the four distilleries. If you can't get there (or are planning a trip and would like to learn more first), the Bureau National Interprofessionnel du Cognac (BNIC) has a Cognac Training Tool Kit. It is available online with levels in different levels for professionals and amateur tasters. They are available in English, French and German, taking you through from an introduction to Cognac and the terms around it, to the best ways to drink it and information on the producers of this beverage.

Friday, January 8, 2010

Traveling through the Wine and Spirits


After many years as a (magazine, web and book) tennis writer, I found myself without full time work in that field in 2008.  I was lucky enough that I had the experience and opportunity to continue my work as a writer, but I needed an additional niche to fill my schedule (not to mention my pocketbook).  I stumbled upon the obvious one purely by accident.

Let me begin with the beginning. I have been a writer for as long as I can remember, working for magazines even while I was a “kid” in school.  One of the things I did to push my career forward was to join the staff of the C.W. Post Pioneer.   It was a wonderful experience to be on the newspaper staff then (where I worked my way to Managing Editor), but it led to an even more exciting opportunity now.

In January of 2008, there was a reunion at C.W. Post of past editors of the newspaper and magazines.  I hadn’t seen anyone in years so I thought it might be fun.  It was by chance that I met former fellow Pioneer editor Frank Coleman, who was living in the D.C. area and just happened to be in New York that weekend.  Frank is now the Sr. Vice President of Marketing for Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS).  He overhead me mention to someone that I was a freelance writer at a crossroads of looking for an additional writing subject to focus on. It just happened that he was for another journalist to go on an upcoming trip to Cognac, France.

When I obtained an assignment and agreed to go on the trip, I was focused on the travel – something that was always a part of my life.  My love of travel was born before I was as my father believed vacations were a necessity in life. In the early days, it was just car trips, but it later grew into adventures that led to the Caribbean, Europe and even Israel.  I would continue to travel as much as I could over the years. As a tennis writer there was always a tournament somewhere to go to and I did my best to build trips around them.

The interest in wine was another one of mine. It was on a tennis trip to Croatia that I stayed with a family who had their own vineyard.  I found it fascinating to take the tour through the grapes just outside the door of where I was staying.   I remember photographing it endlessly and thinking about all the places that were starting their own small vineyards.

I always loved visiting Napa and the wineries in my longtime Long Island home. I remember the smells as I strolled the Bacardi factory and the aromas at Busch Gardens.  It had never occurred to me that I could combine my love of travel with a desire to learn more about spirits -- until that college reunion.  There I was offered the opportunity to go to Cognac and learn about the drink and the town at the same time.   Even then I didn't imagine that I would step off that high speed train into a new career.

It took just a week of watching, drinking and photographing to know I found my new niche was as a Wine and Spirits Traveler.  I've been the Wine And Spirits Travel Examiner for six months now.  I've found myself writing for additional publications (Travels Golflink, Trails & EHow for Matador ) with more assignments added recently (GoNomad, GirlsGetaway, Gadling).  It seemed only appropriate that I have my own place for the personal experience of my recent travel and the many trips to come. So, welcome to Wine And Spirits Travel!