Château de Montifaud, known for producing high-quality vintage cognacs, has released the limited-edition expression Château de Montifaud Heritage Maurice Vallet. Only 5 bottles of Château de Montifaud’s rare 100 year-old, grower-distiller cognac will be available in the United States.
Château de Montifaud is located in Jarnac-Champagne, in the Petite Champagne sub-region of Cognac. The family farms 120 hectares of grapes; 110 of those are in Petite Champagne and another 10 hectares in nearby Grande Champagne. Grapes are farmed using traditional methods, pressed immediately after picking and distillation takes place on-site, as does blending, maturation and bottling.
According to family tradition at Château de Montifaud, whenever a child is born in the Vallet family, part of the cognac distilled from that year’s harvest is set aside in the “Paradis” where the oldest and most precious cognac is kept at the house. The Heritage Maurice Vallet was made by Maurice Vallet, who was born in 1884 and began distilling with his father in 1904. The cognac consists of eau-de-vie from the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, with the oldest cognac in the blend from 1898, exemplifying the deep family roots.
“The Château de Montifaud Heritage Maurice Vallet cognac comes from an exceptional blend of eau-de-vie and is a family treasure,” says Laurent Vallet, master blender and owner. “Upon tasting, the senses are filled with the closely guarded secret atmosphere of Château de Montifaud’s family cellar and the four generations who have contributed to the creation of the blend.”
A bottle of the rare Château de Montifaud Heritage Maurice Vallet retails for $7,500.
Tasting notes:
COLOR: Copper
AROMA: Liquorice, spices and leather
FLAVOR: Powerful and bodied, maderized notes characteristic of a very old cognac, long, harmonious finish, complex on the palate
BOTTLE: Sèvres Crystal Decanter