Uruguayaanse cognac, kan dat?

[Ton]

Blijkbaar wel!
Zie onderstaand verhaal, vertaald uit het Spaans, oorspronkelijk hier gepubliceerd:
https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sabado/la-i ... d14072021/

July 14, 202112:28

For 60 years, Uruguay was the only country outside of France authorized to produce the famous distillate

The world of "appeals of origin" is increasingly strict. Gone is the time when any bubbly wine could proclaim itself Champagne or when every blue cheese could put the word Roquefort on its label. These and other designations of origin have as a main rule that of geographical origin: a Tennessee Whiskey can only be produced in that North American state, in the same way that Cognac can only come out of that French region ... or Uruguay.
A Uruguayan Cognac?
Yes, Cognac Juanicó was produced for decades in a small town in the department of Canelones, 46 kilometers north of Montevideo. Juanicó, a town whose origin is traced to a Jesuit farm from the first half of the 18th century and which just entered the 21st century exceeds 1000 inhabitants, had for 60 years the strange privilege of being the only place outside of France where you could produce Cognac and put that name on the label.

One of the last bottles of Juanicó Cognac found in the cellar of theEstacimiento Juanicó winery

Honoring debts contracted during World War II, there is the origin of the Juanicó Cognac. In 1946, in gratitude for the provision of food during the Second World War (and as a way to partially pay off its debt with the Uruguayan State), France gave Uruguay permission to produce Cognac under that designation of origin.
And not only that. France donated the vines and sent a technical team to this small town to oversee the development and production of Cognac. From that story in which, with twists and turns, Uruguay became the producer of that famous wine distillate, only a few bottles remain in the cellar of theEstacimiento Juanicó winery. And from written records about it, much less than that.
Aerial view of the winery where Cognac Juanicó was made, in this town of Canelones
A leader in its category
"There is not much record in this regard, not even in Uruguay", comments from that side of the pond Pablo Rodríguez Mezzetta, sommelier and director of the Sommelier career at the Faculty of Chemistry of the University of the Republic. But how good was it? Like french? “If it was comparable to French, saying that is pretentious. But it certainly had a very good quality. Especially between the 60s and 90s, it was the market leader and benchmark ”, he adds.
Santiago Deicas, a member of the family that in 1979 acquired the winery where the wines were produced to make Uruguayan Cognac, comments: “The quality of the Cognac made in Uruguay was good. the Juanicó was recognized as being of very good quality. But they were other times: at that time Cognac was consumed a lot, but over time that consumption was declining ”.
A curiosity that the Uruguayan sommelier highlights is that, before being in the hands of the Deicas family, the production of Cognac was done by the State. "In Uruguay, everything that is local distillates was made by the state and even imported ones had to go through the state, through an organization that is Ancap, the same one for fuels," says Rodríguez Mezzetta.
A copper alembic from a Cognac distillery (France), the kind used to make this wine distillateCourtesy Diageo
In the case of Cognac, he adds, “the French not only gave the possibility of producing under appellation of origin, but they also sent a lot of technicians from the Cognac region to plant the vineyards from scratch, install the distiller and the winery, and for a long time they were working and advising on the elaboration of the Cognac ”.
Soccer and world power
Rodríguez Mezzetta suggests putting a context to the agreement between France and Uruguay, signed in 1946, since at that time the relationship of powers between both nations was very different from the current one. "Between 1920 and 1950, Uruguay was one of the great countries at an economic level," he says. It is the great period of economic explosion and world recognition, which coincidentally is closely linked to what happened in football, since it is precisely the historical period of the Uruguayan team, and of the 1930 World Cup, which was held in Uruguay by the economic power he had. To the point of being able to build the Centenario stadium in just a few months ”.
During World War II, Uruguay had a neutral position. “But he continued to maintain great economic relations with France. What it did was provide raw materials - wool, meat, seeds, grains, leather - the great products that were always made in Uruguay and that were exported with certain facilities, which was expanding France's debt. In 1946, after the war, one way to reduce the debt, a kind of drowning slap, was to allow Uruguay to use the famous name Cognac for sixty years ”.
Vineyards of Ugni Blanc, a variety of grape used to produce Cognac, planted 46 kilometers from Montevideo
At this point it is worth remembering what Cognac is. A member of the brandy family, which are wine distillates that are then aged in oak barrels, the appellation of origin belongs to a small region located north of Bordeaux, relatively close to the French Atlantic coast. There this distillate is produced which, in recent years, has gained a new boom from rappers who consume it as a symbol of luxury.
Is there a future for Uruguayan Cognac?
The history of Cognac Juanicó had its ups and downs. Despite having achieved a certain prestige, its development was affected by the ups and downs that are already known in state-owned companies in this part of the globe. "At the time it was a very profitable business, because in Uruguay Cognac was consumed a lot," warns the sommelier. Like any public company, Ancap had certain leanings in its management, and the production of distillates was declining in quality, competition and promotion, until Ancap decided to create a private company (but with 100% of Ancap shareholders) to recover what was lost. in the matter of beverages ”.
But it didn't work, Rodríguez Mezzetta laments. "It never finished raising its head and this distillate company went bankrupt in 2017." A year earlier, in 2016, the 60-year permit granted by France to produce Cognac had ended.
Current view of the facilities of the winery that works within a room that in the 18th century housed a Jesuit community
But before, in 1979, the farm and the winery where the wine to be distilled to produce Cognac was sold had been sold to Familia Deicas, who in the cellar of their winery in Juanicó still keep some bottles and even some barrels containing the distillate produced under appeal of origin. "We have some bottles, I don't know how many, on our property," says Santiago Deicas. It is a very very old batch of Cognac, and of excellent quality, about 15 or 20 years old, but we also have some barrels of a Cognac that is 5 or 6 years old, still not bottled. "
Perhaps at some point, not long from now, what remains of Uruguayan Cognac will see the light of day.

Sebastian A. Rios

[Hans]

Leuke vondst Ton! Werkelijk nog nooit van gehoord, Uruguayaanse cognac. Zal ook wel niet verder dan de plaatselijke markt gekomen zijn, vermoed ik.