The Faces of Cognac - Amy Pasquet, Cognac Pasquet
Please join us as we introduce you to
The Faces of Cognac
At The Bordeaux Concierge, we love to share authentic experiences with our clients and one of our favorite places to do this is in the wonderful region of Cognac. This includes meeting the people that make Cognac what it is today. Through our new series, The Faces of Cognac, we bring these vibrant personalities to our audience at home and hope that one day we can introduce you in person.
Amy Pasquet, Cognac Pasquet
Cognac Pasquet is an independent, family run vineyard located in the Grand Champagne appellation of Cognac that has been certified organic since 1998.
What is your role at Cognac Pasquet?
Essentially, at Cognac Pasquet, I do what Jean, my husband, does not. That includes, but is not exclusive to, hosting visitors on our property, bookkeeping, updating our community on social media, and making sure all the secretarial is work done. We also make an incredible team, deciding which cognacs are bottled, young and old, blends and single casks, traveling to meet with our partners around the world, as well as, raising our three children, possibly the next generation of grower/distillers at JLP Cognac.
What has been your career path to date?
Jean and I met at a bodega in Mendoza, Argentina during my junior year abroad and while he was making wine in Chile. In the US, I studied Spanish and biology. When I came to France, I had a Fulbright Grant to teach English and write my Masters thesis. I ended up getting an international business degree and selling oenological products throughout the South West of France. After a time, I decided I wanted to go back to teaching, but needed a Masters in English and a competitive exam to do so in France. 2010 brought me back to the classroom in the middle school in Châteauneuf-sur-Charente, where Jean and his father before him had been students. I spent a few years teaching at the collège level, but earned a position at The University of Bordeaux. While I was there in 2016, our third child was born and we decided it was time for both of us to be at Cognac Pasquet. Since September 2017, I have truly found my calling at JLP Cognac, and it just keeps getting better!
What do you enjoy most about your work?
It is truly a pleasure to share the joy of cognac! Having the opportunity to host people from many different places makes life in this tiny, country town vivid for me. We can voyage without having to go anywhere and share our passion for this beautiful spirit that has been a part of Jean’s family for so long.
What makes Cognac Pasquet special?
In the Cognac region, there are fewer than 4500 vintners and around 200 active brands of cognac. Many houses do not own vineyards and simply purchase eaux-de-vie from wine-growers and blend it to make their cognac and bottle it. Many vintners, even the ones who do bottle their production, have a contract with one or several of the big houses, which stipulates how the wine and eau-de-vie should be produced. We are independent in order to craft cognacs of terroir as we believe best. We have been using organic farming methods since 1993 and have had the label since 1998, like less than 1% of cognac vines today. Native yeasts ferment all of our wines, which we distill in our small pot-still on the property. From start to finish, we insure the quality of our cognac and pineau des Charentes.
Tell us a little bit about the range of cognacs you produce at Cognac Pasquet.
We have two collections of cognac: L’Organic 04, 07, and 10, which are all from our Grande Champagne vineyards and distilled in our pot still by Jean and Jean-Luc. We stopped using the traditional VS, VSOP, and XO denominations back in 2017 to provide clarity about exactly what is in the bottle. The 04, 07 and 10 signifies the number of years spent aging in barrels.
Our L’Esprit de Famille collection was born out of the same passion. In 2018, we found ourselves at a crossroads as we were running out of older stocks quickly. We decided to search in our friends’ and neighbors’ cellars and selected exceptional single barrels, which are bottled bearing the name of the grower/distiller. We also tell the story of the person and their family as well as how the cognac inside was made. These are all unique limited editions, with numbered bottles.
“We are independent in order to craft cognacs of terroir as we believe best. ”
What would people be surprised to know about you?
The biggest surprise is perhaps, that I learned French when I arrived here in 2005. Jean and I spoke Spanish to each other when we met, then English when were living in New Zealand. He and his parents, Jean-Luc and Marie-Françoise, patiently helped me to learn French.
What profession other than your own would you love to attempt?
As a girl from the South, I have always loved bourbon. I would enjoy trying our hand at making other spirits, especially a whisky resembling the ones from my youth. Also, before we had children, I dreamed of being a travel writer, which I still imagine would be quite an adventure, but the vines and distillery are here, so that is why it is such a pleasure to host people hailing from diverse backgrounds all over the world- it feels like we are traveling without leaving home.
What recommendations do you have for visitors to Cognac?
In our village, there is pretty much only JLP cognac, but in the region, I would highly recommend several exquisite restaurants. The town of Cognac is growing and I do recommend walking around the ancient city with a few stops at the new cocktail bars there and perhaps one of the big houses or the Musée des Arts de Cognac. The Grande Champagne, our cru, is full of winding roads, so if you like cycling (motorized or not) it is ideal for a tour.
Cognac Pasquet, also known as Cognac Jean-Luc Pasquet or JLP Cognac, is a 14 hectare (35 acres) vineyard located in the Grande Champagne appellation of Cognac. The estate has been passed on through family ties since 1730, with the creation of the Cognac Jean-Luc Pasquet brand in 1977. The vineyard, made up of Ugni Blac, Montils and Folle Blanche grapes, has been farmed organically (no pesticides, weedkillers, or chemical fertilizers) since 1995 and was awarded ‘Agriculture Biologique’ status in 1998. Cognac Pasquet produces two collections of cognac: L’Organic 04, 07, and 10 and L‘Esprit de la Famille’, a white and raspberry pineau, as well as a unique, sparkling aperitif by the name of La Belle Inconnue. Visits to this family estate are available by appointment.
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