Deeply attached to their Cognac land, the five generations of CAMUS family have succeeded in faithfully preserving the brand's original values. This process of handing down from father to son now ensures the continuity and development of a unique expertise, with the cornerstones remaining the soil, the vine and the grape.
As well as a love and respect for the fruit of the land, the CAMUS culture is based on innovation and the quest for exceptional aromatic qualities – for above and beyond their role as businessmen the CAMUS's see themselves as winegrowers, explorers and passionate lovers of taste.
The fact that the CAMUS family home le Plessis lies at the heart of the highly sought-after Borderies cru is proof of this special attachment to the Cognac region. The CAMUS family is today the largest landowner in the Cognac Borderies appellation.
Distillation is an essential stage in producing Cognac, and at CAMUS is marked by an ongoing quest for aromatic finesse. Next it is the turn of the cellar master, a true custodian of this ancestral expertise, who appears during the selection process for the newly distilled eaux-de-vie. This subtle and delicate process is an opportunity to choose the eaux-de-vie which will be used in the blends for future Cognacs. Thanks to a mastery of double distillation both with and without lees, the cellar master will reveal the wine's 'heart' and soul and bring substance and aromatic complexity to each cuvée.
As soon as the distillation is complete, CAMUS Cognacs are placed in oak barrels. During its long stay nestled in these barrels the Cognac will take on an amber appearance, and its sensory properties will develop as time passes. The CAMUS touch comes into play again here with the extreme care taken in selecting barrels so as to always respect the character of the original eaux-de-vie.
To create CAMUS Cognacs, therefore, the cellar master chooses barrels with light tannins that give his Cognacs an inimitable roundness and ensure that all their aromatic qualities remain intact. For older Cognacs such as Elegance XO or Extra Elegance the house cellar master generally opts for damp cellars, which give the eaux-de-vie a wonderfully mellow character.
CAMUS owes its international reputation to the richness and extreme subtlety of flavor found in its Cognacs, offering a complexity that appeals to all the senses. The demanding work undertaken by the cellar master to perpetuate this unique style is based on the blending of eaux-de-vie from different crus and of different ages, requiring a combination of technical virtuosity, inspiration and intuition.
The cellar master's quest for perfect harmony gives rise to a painstaking selection process, with the choices made according to the flavor desired for each creation: floral or fruity notes, how well the crus complement each other, barrel selection and achieving the perfect balance.
Camus keeps pursuing for exceptional aromatic qualities and observing its core values:
For more information of Camus, please contact sccenter@swisschinacapital.com
or visit: http://www.camus.fr/