For a long time they have supplied the large houses, but now the Tesseron’s family collection is available to consumers. Let us take you on a journey on a little cloud.

Chateauneuf-sur-Charente lies on a little country road between Cognac and Angoulême. The dark rainy winter sky is a great contrast with the warm reflections in the silent stills. The "pot" stills in the House of Tesseron are resting. In the chais, the vapours patiently await the angels liquid feast from the casks along the road to infinity. The angels know this place well : Abel Tesseron was founded in 1905. Abel Tesseron’s Father was already a Cognac producer.

For more than a century he had supplied the great Cognac house such as Delamain, Hine, Rémy Martin, Hennessy, Martell and Courvoisier with cognacs for their blends. Abel’s son Guy was born in this charming Charentais house and in turn his son Alfred who now runs this family company. Alfred is also responsible for Château Pontet-Canet, the family’s Pauillac wine property, a fifth growth, Grand Cru Classé wine. The perfume of Cognac, runs in Alfred’s blood and he has inherited the great art of recognizing and blending great cognacs from his ancestors.

The wine destined to become "eau de vie", and ultimately Cognac may only be distilled, by law, from the harvest which is usually between mid September and mid October to 31st March each year. The official ageing to the "eau de vie" to become Cognac begins in the spring the following year which is counted as year 0. Then the spring of the following year becomes year 1.

Powerful events follow. These young "eau de vie" are then put in cask on gently and quietly left to mature. This is a very slow and gradual process. It is only after 10 years that these young Cognacs begin to show traces of maturity. When they are under 10 years it is very difficult to identify their age.

The only legal proof of a vintage of a Cognac is the government seal on the cask. As seal that cannot be broken it the Cognac is ready for bottling. Alfred Tesseron has followed this practice since 1998, on special "hots" or collections of casks, containing young "eau de vie" that he believes are of exceptional quality and ageing potential. These new "eau de vie" are babies, they will develop their personality and character through childhood and adolescence. They are the vintage cognacs of the future.

The Tesseron family have old accounts, invoices and ledgers which record the production, maturing and sale of their cognacs dating back to the early 19th century. However these are not considered legal proof of their cognacs age.

For many years the large houses have known that the Grande and Petite Champagne areas within the cognac region produce the most elegant cognacs. Alfred Tesseron is a perfectionist and has inherited the knowledge and experience of his family. He had left this family’s treasured stocks of cognac, amassed by previous generations quietly sleeping until 2000. In 2000 he decided to open the gates of paradise. More precisely the paradise of his cellars. In these cool damp cellars, known as "paradis" in the cognac region ancient "demijohns" of Tesseron Cognac lay slumbering. The Tesseron family have three "paradis" not just one, a rare phenomena indeed. These special "thick" glass bottles, known as "demijohns" are wrapt in protective clothing of cork or woven jutes. This protects their treasured contents from movement, vibration and changes in temperature.

One trembles with excitement, anticipation and emotion seeing the labels on these ancient flass "bottles" 1923, 1864… even 1825. They have been labelled and numbered with vintages by generations of the Tesseron family, but they are officially recognised as vintages by the authorities and that is the problem.