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Corti Brothers Newsletter for Spring 2001 Page 3
...Continued from page 2 1 2 << Page 3>> 4 A NEW BOTTLING OF EARLY LANDED COGNAC: HINE GRANDE CHAMPAGNE 1977 Corti Brothers is unique in California in buying casks of single vintage cognac, distilled in France but aged in Britain, then bottled when alcoholic strength has reduced naturally to drinking strength at 40 % alcohol. No water or anything is added to the cognac which is known as EARLY LANDED. Hine, the reknown cognac firm, is a specialist in this treatment of some of its Grande Champagne cognacs. Together with Delamain, they are probably the last firms to offer such cognac. We have just bottled our cask of HINE GRANDE CHAMPAGNE 1977; it is a lovely product in the elegant Hine style. 1977 is a fine vintage in Grande Champagne and our cask has produced a softly aromatic, delicate cognac with great length. It is completely different from the more firm, austere HINE 1972 still available. The HINE 1977 is a perfect birthday bottle for someone born in that year. Other than Vintage Port, there is not much available from the vintage. If you are of the 1977 vintage, or know someone who is, here is your chance to have a birthday bottle that will be terrific even with a lot more age on it. HINE GRANDE CHAMPAGNE 1977, bottled 2000 $218 750ml La Valle dei Mulini LIQUORE DI LIMONI, the unique liqueur of Amalfi Today, we think of a citrus as common as lemons as always present. However, this was not true. Lemons were unknown to the Romans and were probably brought by the Arabs to Spain about 1150. Plantings in Italy started in Genoa and then spread to Amalfi on the southern coast, south of Naples. Amalfi, a seagoing republic which reached its apogee in the 1300's, produces a very special lemon, the "Sfusato amalfitano," grown only there. Its name comes from the tapering (affusolato) shape of this cultivar which is known botanically as a "citrated lemon," Citrus Limonimedica (Lush.) or Limon Citratus Amalphitanus. LIQUORE DI LIMONI, the unique liqueur produced in Amalfi, is made using only the relatively thick lemon flavedo (the yellow part), washed and handpeeled, macerated in alcohol and then blended with sugar syrup: that is all. The rich oil glands in the rind release their essential oil to produce what is the best lemon liqueur made. However, it must be made in Amalfi! The Valle dei Mulini brand produces what I think is the best and was created in 1992 by the Aceto family who have grown the Amalfi lemons for generations. A lot of similar products exist, but this one is the best. LIQUORE DI LIMONI is very delicate. Store it in the freezer, since it is perfect when served very cold. Another specialty of Valle dei Mulini is the delicious FINOCCHIETTO,
a liqueur made from the maceration of the flower heads and seeds of wild
fennel which grows on the rocky slopes of Amalfi. ASSAGGIAOLIO, the professional oil tasting glass Professional oil tasters use a very special, blue tinted glass that allows them to warm the oil in their hand, not be influenced by its color and to be able to appreciate the scent and flavor. Corti Brothers has found the producer of the standardized, internationally accepted tasting glass, the ASSAGGIAOLIO. These are the same tasting glasses used throughout oil producing regions for the Panel Test, obligatory for commercialization of all productions of extra virgin olive oil. If you are an oil producer or a fan of extra virgin oil, this is your chance to get these tasting glasses which are absolutely necessary for a dispassionate, objective tasting. << Back to Top |
Corti Brothers
Sacramento CA