I had the pleasure this October to explore Cognac, France with the best guide around: Frederic Dezauzier. He is the Brand Manager for this iconic Cognac, and I am so grateful for a one of a kind weekend where we explored the sights, ate delicious food, and of course, enjoyed CAMUS!

Cognac is a small area in France with a ton of history and culture. This variety of brandy is named after the region, Cognac and it’s one of my favorite spirits to sip all year long. I enjoy cognac on the rocks and in cocktails, but one of my favorite pairings is CAMUS VSOP Borderies Cognac, with a nice Cuban cigar!

For five generations now, the CAMUS family has succeeded in constantly preserving the brand’s original values. This process of handing down from father to son now ensures the continuation and development of a unique expertise, with the cornerstones remaining the soil, the vine, and the grape. They use three types of grapes to produce the cognac are Colombard, Ugni Blanc, and Folle Blanche. This produces a complex, rich, and elegant spirit by CAMUS, one of my favorite Cognac’s in the market!

The fact that the CAMUS family home le Plessis lies at the heart of the highly desired Borderies cru is evidence of this special attachment to the Cognac region. The CAMUS family is today the largest landowner in the Cognac Borderies appellation and owns stunning vineyards that are carefully taken care of, to produce only the finest expression of cognac.

This particular character of taste and body is down to the imagination of Jean-Paul CAMUS, who realized the potential of the region’s different terroirs at a very early stage. He was guided by his intuition and didn’t listen to passing trends. He chose to develop an overlooked cru of Cognac: Borderies, which allows its flavors to shine all over the world.

CAMUS has tremendous respect for the land, and their culture is based on innovation as well as the quest for exceptional aromatic qualities. They are passionate wine growers as well as great business leaders.

You can visit CAMUS and make your own blend of cognac too! You’ll taste, touch, and smell the influence the chalk soils have on the blends, and getting to make your very own unique Cognac is the best experience. I had the pleasure of tasting expressions with Frederic, who was so generous to give myself and my mother a private blending session. I learned so much more about Cognac as a whole, but what’s truly amazing is blending spirits and trying to get them to be balanced. I have done wine blending many times, and even that is hard… so you can imagine how much harder it is to do with a spirit!

I love my blend, and the best part is, that when you make a blend with CAMUS, you get to bring a bottle home. They seal it up so its TSA safe and place it in a gorgeous wooden box for beauty and protection. Overall when you visit Southwest France, be sure to stop in Cognac. It’s the perfect day trip or overnight visit and you will be amazed by the charm, elegance, and history this expressive region has to offer.

Want to pair Cognac with food? Keep an eye out for some of my favorite CAMUS food and beverage pairings!