‘What is time?’ Thomas Mann asked in his novel “The Magic Mountain” and answered: “A mystery, a figment – and all-powerful.”. The mystery of time is something you have to think about a lot when you travel to Jarnac, one of the most important centres of cognac production alongside Cognac itself. There, time seems to have stood still. The narrow streets of the village, which has just 4,000 inhabitants, with their closely packed yellow-grey sandstone facades have hardly changed since the 18th century. The central entrance to Delamain & Cie. is hard to beat in terms of understatement. In fact, the house is one of the most exclusive in the Charente. Its production begins where it ends for most: the XOs, i.e. the extra-aged cognacs. When asked about the essence of the Delamain house, Etienne Bizot, the head of the board of directors, replies: ‘Delamain knows how to give time to time.’
The history
But first things first. Not only its cognacs, but also the Delamain family itself has a long history. In any case, the first decisive milestone in the family’s history was Nicolas Delamain’s emigration from the Cognac region. Due to the persecution and repression of the Huguenots in France, he first travelled to England and then settled in Ireland. It was not until 1759 that James Delamain returned to the Charente. There he married Marie Ranson in 1763 and founded the company Ranson & Delamain together with his father-in-law Isaac Ranson. The upheavals of the revolutionary period, but above all the new inheritance law of the Napoleonic Code, which led to a dispute between the company’s numerous heirs, resulted in bankruptcy in 1817. Henry Delamain, the grandson of James, then founded the company Roullet and Delamain with his cousins from the Roullet family in 1824. This is the beginning of today’s cognac house.
This construction remained unchanged for four generations until 1920, when Jacques and Robert Delamain bought out the Roullet family’s shares and gave the house its current name. During this time, the representatives of the family also excelled intellectually. Maurice Delamain became publisher of ‘Stock, Delamain & Boutelleau’ in 1921 and published US authors such as Thomas Wolfe in French. The ornithologist Jacques Delamain wrote the classic ‘Why do birds sing?’ (1928), Robert the still valid ‘Histoire du cognac’ (1935). In the early 1990s, however, the house began to run into difficulties due to rising grape and brandy prices. In 1994, the Bollinger family, friends of the champagne house of the same name, became partners, and in 2017 they took full control via the Société Jacques Bollinger. However, the house continues to be run by members of the family. Charles Braastad, whose Norwegian-born grandfather had married France Delamain, became managing director in 2017 and took over from long-serving cellar master Dominique Touteau in March 2024.
The house and its style
Robert and Jacques Delamain created the Cuvée Pale & Dry back in 1920, the year they renamed the company Delamain & Cie. It is the signature brand of the company and accounts for a good 80 per cent of its production. It already reveals the most important characteristics of the brand. Delamain only produces XO cognacs or qualities above this. However, it exceeds the legal requirement (since 2018) of a minimum age of ten years by a factor of two. ‘Pale’ refers to the fact that Delamain works exclusively with used French oak barrels, which give off hardly any colour and only a few tannins. Sugar couleur is used just as little as sweetening sugar syrup (hence ‘dry’). For a long time, Delamain was exclusively a négociant, restricting itself to buying distillates that were at least ten years old from Cognac distillers. Not on the basis of long-term contracts, but exclusively after prior tasting! Even today, only brandies from the heart of the region, the ‘Grande Champagne’, are considered.
After selection, Delamain sees its task primarily in the ageing and blending of the spirits. In the words of former director Alain Brastaad, the house believes that freshly distilled cognac represents just ‘25 per cent of the quality of the final product’. In addition to the quality of the barrels, the place of maturation is therefore of particular importance. Delamain has seven different cellars (‘chais’) in and near Jarnac, which differ fundamentally in terms of key factors. For example, the proximity to the Charente River (humidity). Or the distribution of day and night temperatures in cellars or higher floors. A speciality at Delamain is the use of ‘vielles faibles’ (‘old, weak’) to reduce the alcohol content of the distillates. Because simple distilled water ‘would destroy the finesse and balance’, the house dilutes very slowly with a 15 per cent strong mixture of water and old cognacs.
The new cuvées
For decades, Delamain’s portfolio consisted of Pale & Dry as well as the older and more expensive cuvées Vesper, Très Vénerable and Réserve de la Famille. The takeover by Bollinger in 2017 broadened the focus. In 2019, for the first time in its history, the estate purchased 20 hectares of vineyards (La Rambaudie, Montplaisir, La Sentinelle and Les Grands Champs) near Bellevigne and Malaville in the heart of Grande Champagne. The house produces a series of single-barrel bottlings of these under the title Pléiade. Delamain was also one of the very few Cognac houses to have the right to produce vintage Cognacs before the regulations were opened in 1988. The house therefore had a vintage cellar built back in the 1960s. Barrels of vintage distillates are stored here, sealed with wax. And the greatest treasure: 10-litre glass balloons (Dames-Jeannes) with very old cognacs that have completed their maturation in wood. A member of staff from the BNIC supervisory authority had to make a special trip to unlock the Chai Millésimé for the birthday guests. In fact, Delamain only produces a vintage cognac every few years.
To mark the bicentenary, two new cuvées once again demonstrate Delamain’s extraordinary expertise in blending old eaux-de-vie. The first is L’Oiseau Rare, a kind of farewell gift from cellar master Dominique Touteau, who retired this year, made from very old cognacs. And then, above all, in L’Édition Rare du Bicentenaire. It contains five distillates from the vintages 1893, 1914, 1947, 1965 and 1969, and not just drops, but at least 15 per cent from each vintage.
During our visit, we take a tour of the various cellars and taste the four oldest vintages separately. It is a meditation on the impact of time. And a fascinating journey into an aromatic universe that only cognac can offer. From a last hint of fresh fruit to dried fruit, nuts, ‘beurré’ notes and the oxidative, complex aromas of Rancio Charantais. 200 bottles go on sale (at 6,000 euros each). A Dame-Jeanne decorated by Parisian jeweller Goosens was auctioned at Bonham’s for 93,000 euros.
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Stefan Pegatzky / Time Tunnel Images
