The Egreteau Cognac estate is a family vineyard located in the Cognac region of France, spanning the Fins Bois and Borderies crus. The estate’s soils, composed of limestone hills and clay, produce eaux-de-vie that are aged separately to maintain their distinct aromatic profiles before blending. This approach reflects the estate’s focus on terroir-driven production. We review two single casks: the Egreteau Borderies Fragment Lot 95B23 and 80–81B23.
Vignoble Egreteau
Hélène and Ludovic Egreteau represent the eighth generation managing the estate, continuing a family tradition of vine cultivation, grape maturity assessment, and harvest timing passed down through generations. The family oversees every stage of production-from vineyard management to distillation, ageing and bottling – ensuring full control over the process. Their cellar contains a collection of barrels used as an aromatic reserve to facilitate precise blending.
The vineyard covers around fifty hectares divided into multiple parcels, enabling the production of a range of cognacs. The family’s hands-on approach and detailed knowledge of their terroirs allow them to preserve the unique characteristics of their eaux-de-vie by ageing them separately and carefully assembling the final blends. This methodical process underpins the estate’s production philosophy.
Egreteau Borderies Fragment Lot 95B23 (2023) Review
We begin with the Egreteau Fragment Lot 95B23. The lot number is straightforward: ‘95’ indicates the vintage year, ‘B’ stands for the Borderies cru, and ‘23’ shows it was bottled in 2023. This means the single cru Borderies cognac is approximately 28 years old. The 95B23 is unchill-filtered and described as ‘cask strength’, which here likely means it has been gradually reduced in the cask to around 40% ABV. A total of 500 bottles were produced. This release is still available directly from the producer for about €90, although they only ship within France. Alternatively, it can be found on sites like Cognac-Expert, though at a higher price-around €111 ($128/£89).
Colour:
Russet
Nose:
Neat: The nose opens with fruit aromas of orange, apricot, and plum, accompanied by the scent of lukewarm walnut and almond cake. It also shows hints of cinnamon, vanilla, and coconut husk, with a subtle wood note. In the background, there are faint traces of solvent or glue, along with pear.
Palate:
Neat: The palate feels warm with a good mouthfeel, slightly oily and coating. The wood influence is more noticeable but well balanced, adding warmth and spices such as pepper and cinnamon dusted over apples, along with a mild bitterness.
Finish:
The finish features flavours of pear, peach, and apple caramel, with a light peppermint note. It has a medium length.
Comments:
The Egreteau Fragment Lot 94B23 is classic, well made, and elegant. It has a better mouthfeel than expected for its low ABV, likely due to the lack of chill filtration. However, it may evaporate quickly from your glass because it is way too easy to drink!
Rating: 7/10
Egreteau Borderies Fragment Lot 80–81B23 (2023) Review
Next is an older Borderies: the Egreteau Fragment Lot 80–81B23. It was distilled from a double vintage harvest, 1980 and 1981, and bottled in 2023 at 41 years old. Two hundred and forty bottles were produced, each filled at 40% ABV. The price is €136 on Egreteau’s website and €185 ($213/£148) on Cognac-Expert.
Colour:
Russet but slightly darker than the 95B23
Nose:
Neat: The nose is more intense than the 95B23. It begins with warm spices such as cinnamon, saffron, and pepper, accompanied by a light and soft rancio. There are aromas of stewed apples, walnuts, hazelnuts, and some floral notes.
Palate:
Neat: The palate has a lightly sweet start before wood and spices balance the sweetness. Flavours of caramel, mint, and eucalyptus appear, along with a noticeable pepperiness from cracked black pepper. Roasted almonds and hazelnuts are enhanced by a dusting of vanilla powder.
Finish:
Caramel, wood, mint and eucalyptus, pepper, almost everything, in fact, from the palate lingers for a long finish, then softly disappearing and letting the pepper shine stronger and even longer.
Comments:
Lovely fresh herbaceous character with mint and eucalyptus. Not really fruity but not overly woody either. Everything is round and balanced, and the cask was not overly active, so this Egreteau 80–81B23 stays fresh despite the age. And I really like this sober and elegant label.
Rating: 7.5/10
Bottle pictures courtesy of Vignoble Egreteau. Samples of the Egreteau Borderies Fragment Lot 95B23 and 80–81B23 were provided (for one) and bought (for the other) on Cognac-Expert. Do you like all these cognac reviews? Don’t hesitate to leave a comment below!