Tasting of new eaux-de-vie

A well-oiled ceremony

Several times a week, meetings between one or two professional tasters and voluntary distillers are organized in the town halls of the vineyard.

The ceremonial is always the same.
In the middle of the morning, on the day and place, on a not too large table the organizers line up empty tasting glasses and a large bottle filled with distilled water enthroned in the middle of the table.

Then, the distillers arrive and place on the table small vials filled with samples of their brandy just distilled.
Each vial is numbered and placed in front of an empty glass. After a while a hundred vials can be lined up.

Olfactory tastings

In an almost religious silence, the two professional tasters then begin their tour de table.
They pour a little of each sample, a distillate which has an alcohol content of around 71 °, into the corresponding numbered glass and carry out a first olfactory tasting, called full degree.
Then, each brandy is extended, that is to say reduced to distilled water poured from the large flask.

At the end of this first tasting of the hundred or so samples, a second olfactory tasting begins. With an extended eau-de-vie, the aromatic characters become more intense.

(Not so) tasty discussions

For each sample, a comment aloud is made on the quality of the brandy and, sometimes, on the process of distillation, even vinification or even harvest corresponding to the sample …

“On the 7th [understand sample n ° 7], beautiful floral pick-ups and dry vine shoots, without heaviness with a discreet ethyl hint. Pleasant, good ..”
“The 18th, fruity aromas with banana. Who is it? … You? You have a lot of lees to distill, it’s rather rare this year!”

Sometimes the verdict and the ensuing exchange are much less flattering:
“The 65, lack of finesse, too many herbaceous upsurges, who is it? A lot of rot in the vines before the harvest?”
“No… “
“So a problem during the harvest?”
“Well … the wine press broke down …”
“A lot of trailers are still waiting? Next year, do a preventive check of the press !!!!”

“72, is that you too? Your sample is ethereal. How much did you cut off the heads?”
“5 liters …”
“It’s not enough. We smell too much ethyl acetate. Cut to 6 or even 7 liters and your good toast will be much better.”

All the samples are tasted and analyzed …

As soon as the verdict is reached, each glass passes from hand to hand among the participants who, in silence, estimate the quality or measure the defect of the eaux-de-vie presented.

At the end of the tasting, relieved or a little more worried, each distiller takes his samples again and, before leaving, comments on the weather, its impact on the wines and the distillation …