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BERTOUX Brandy, Blended by Top Craft Bartender and Acclaimed Sommelier

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#spirits #brandy #cocktail
Published
10/04/2018 by

BERTOUX Brandy, a new premium brandy from California, today announces its launch in New York City, Los Angeles and San Francisco in Fall 2018. A blend of pot-distilled brandies aged 3 to 7 years, BERTOUX Brandy is designed to shine in classic and modern cocktails, like the Sidecar, and sets the stage for next-generation brandy drinks. BERTOUX Brandy will be available at leading mixology-driven bars and restaurants, as well as notable independent retailers (SRP $45; 40% ABV/750ml).

An Entrepreneurial Spirits Visionary and a Blending Team Par Excellence

BERTOUX Brandy is led by Jeff Menashe, a wine and spirits entrepreneur on a mission to restore the marquee role in mixology that brandy enjoyed during the first Golden Age of the Cocktail. Menashe tapped experts from the worlds of wine and spirits as consulting master blenders: Jeff Bell (PDT and Legacy Records), one of the country's top craft bartenders, and Thomas Pastuszak (The NoMad), an acclaimed sommelier with intimate knowledge of grapes and winemaking.

In a first-of-its-kind collaboration, Bell and Pastuszak, who share exceptional palates, envisioned BERTOUX Brandy's flavor profile and guided the blending process from the barrel to the glass. The result is a brandy that liberates the category from the snifter and puts it back at the center of mixology.

"It's been exciting to be part of the creation of BERTOUX Brandy," says Bell. "As a bartender, we blend cocktails that are to be consumed in that moment. With a spirit, we are creating a blend that will be aged and enjoyed years down the line. As a blender, you have to extrapolate from what you are tasting in the present, which will continue to evolve and develop before bottling. BERTOUX Brandy offers today's bartenders an elegant and flavorful option for their mixological arsenal that we hope makes brandy relevant to a whole new generation and revives it at the forefront of cocktail culture."

Tasting Notes on an Elevated Brandy from California and Cocktail Applications

A Solera-style blend of pot-distilled California fine brandies aged in French and American oak, BERTOUX Brandy is vibrant and highly aromatic. On the nose, there are notes of candied apricot, orange blossom and honeysuckle, nutmeg and a gentle toast character, which leads to a juicy and bright palate impression.

BERTOUX Brandy's layers of flavors and luxuriously long finish create very flavorful cocktails with length and complexity. Its citrus and floral components lend themselves perfectly to the Sidecar. While brandies are often perceived to be more prevalent for fall and winter cocktails, BERTOUX Brandy's profile supports a wide range of drinks that can be enjoyed year-round, especially tall and refreshing citrus-forward cocktails.

"Brandy naturally brings together both the worlds of wine and spirits and was one of my earliest passions in spirits when I was first getting into wine because of this grape-based kinship," says Pastuszak. "BERTOUX Brandy presents a dramatically new take on brandy produced in California. It is youthful yet mature, energetic yet resolved. We are building on the world's brandy making history, but introducing a style that has never existed in the spirits realm before."

A French Inventor and the Story of the Sidecar

BERTOUX Brandy takes its name from Jean Bertoux, a French inventor who had an unforeseen yet transformative impact on cocktail culture. In 1892, he designed a means to modify bicycles and patented a way for a bicycle to elegantly accommodate a passenger. Soon thereafter, the motorcycle roared onto the scene and Bertoux's concept was adapted into what is known to this day as the Sidecar, which also became the namesake for brandy's best-known cocktail. While the cocktail's precise genesis is disputed, most believe it was created during U.S. Prohibition at The Hôtel Ritz or Harry's Bar in Paris or perhaps at Buck's Bar in London. BERTOUX honors the inspiration behind these innovations in pursuit of changing the order of cocktail culture.

Starting a Movement of Quality-Driven, Premium Brandy from California

BERTOUX Brandy is part of a group of premium brandy producers in California that is making a concerted effort to establish new and elevated standards for the category.

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