Paul Giraud Napoleon Cognac
(100% Ugni Blanc; 12 year old) This opens with great aromatic intensity offering notes of white flowers, citrus, peach, marzipan, nougat and mixed spices. The palate has a lifted and pretty aspect with flavors of baked fruits, citrus, hard sugar, vanilla, and mixed spices. - D&M TASTING NOTES (12/2024)
CRITICAL ACCLAIM:
“Silky smooth and rounded, look for vanilla, honey and lemon cream spruced up with fresh pear and a flurry of spice fading into a long, ginger-spiked finish. Grande Champagne region.” - 94 PTS, WINE ENTHUSIAST (07/2019)
PRODUCER NOTES:
OVERVIEW: “Aged in only 25% new oak, our Napoléon has a light colour and subtle aromas of great elegance. It reveals very delicate notes of vine blossom, and we like to think back to the fleeting moment when we smell this flower at the end of May and beginning of June, heralding the arrival of beautiful grapes for the next harvest.”
TASTING: “These aromas are comparable to acacia flower, elderflower or any other wild white flower with a hint of freshness, reminiscent of the grapes crushed at harvest time. It is the olfactory memory of the white wine from the Ugni Blanc grape variety, with its sweet aromas and clear acidity, that we use exclusively, because this grape variety has all the qualities required to make a fine Grande Champagne eau de vie.”
ABOUT US: “From Pierre Giraud in 1635 to Paul Giraud today, eleven generations have succeeded one another at Bouteville. These almost four centuries have nurtured a strong attachment to our village and its life. Over those years, each generation worked the vines and produced cognacs sold to merchants in Jarnac and Cognac. In 1975, Paul and his son Paul-Jean decided to embark on the adventure of independent marketing. Their aim was to make it possible to taste, without blending, the old and rare cognacs with the subtle and characteristic Grande Champagne aromas that form the treasures of the family’s cellars. The estate now covers 50 hectares, all planted with ugni-blanc grapes. Assisted by a team that also spans several generations, Paul-Jean and Paul work to perpetuate their ancestral know-how.”