Barrel sample, cognac style
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Domique Touteau, cellar master at Delamain, draws a sample from a 1967 barrel of Cognac. Instead of a pipette, more common in the wine world, he uses a “prouvette.” The prouvette is a glass vial tied to a string that he drops in the barrel. If you listen you can hear the bubbles as it fills up. Unfortunately the only light we had in the cellar was one light bulb. Even thought the video is dark, you can still see the golden color in the glass. And the chalk markings on the outside of the barrel indicate its origin, harvest date and the alcohol strength. No barcodes here…
tags: cognac | barrel sample
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On January 25th, 2007 at 6:18 am ,Bertrand wrote:
Hi Tyler
I think you mean (une) éprouvette. The image was so dark that I could’n check, but go to Google Image, I think this is it.
Cheers
Bertrand
On January 25th, 2007 at 5:22 pm ,Tim Halberg wrote:
wow… 1967? is that normal age, or is that pretty healthy?? SWEET!!!
On January 26th, 2007 at 12:49 pm ,Dr. Vino wrote:
Bertrand,
Merci. I corrected it in the text.
-Tyler
On January 26th, 2007 at 12:53 pm ,Dr. Vino wrote:
Tim,
It’s definitely on the old side. I’ll post more soon on the aging of cognac, vintages etc soon. But generally speaking, the older the better! I had one from 1874–amazing stuff!!!!
Tyler
On February 13th, 2007 at 4:41 am ,Anonymous wrote:
Bonjour,
Sorry but it was “une prouvette”, same roots than proof, it was used to give the proof of the alcohol content.
Remember also older vintage doesn’t meaning older cognac, a 1874 bottled in 1900, is still today a 26 year old cognac ! Because there is no further aging in the bottle…
Best regards,
Charles Braastad-Delamain
c.braastad @delamain-cognac.com
On February 13th, 2007 at 7:43 am ,Dr. Vino wrote:
Charles,
Thanks for this correction. I’m changing it back in the text! And thanks too for the comment about aging.
Best,
Tyler