Grape of the Art Cuvée Résistance 70cl (07/2026)
This Cognac is a blend of 25% 1990 and 25% 1994 from Cognac Lheraud (Petite Champagne) and 50% Lot 94 from Cognac Jean-Luc Pasquet (Grande Champagne), made from Ugni Blanc grapes in France.
It matured for at least 31 years and was bottled in 2026 (07/2026) by Grape of the Art at 47.7%. Alambic Charentais (Pot Stills) were used for distillation.
Release #31 is our first blend: Cuvée Résistance, a Fine Champagne Cognac, half Pasquet, half Lhéraud. We don't know of any other Cognac where two Cognac houses stand behind a blend together and under their own names.
Blends are a dime a dozen, including ones made from casks of different producers. Almost always, though, individual casks were bought or swapped and then blended by a brand, without the original producer having any say in it. With Cuvée Résistance, both houses are on the bottle, and we created the blend together with both families.
The idea came from Clément Gardillou of Lhéraud at Vinexpo in Paris at the beginning of the year: to marry a vintage Cognac from Lhéraud with the Cognac of another house for the first time, namely Jean-Luc Pasquet.
Both houses are independent, sell under their own brand and supply nothing to the big Cognac houses. The story behind it starts in a tiny village school in Châteauneuf-sur-Charente that both Jean-Luc Pasquet and Guy Lhéraud attended. Decades later, both made the same decision: no more Cognac sold in bulk to the big players, everything under their own name instead. Jean-Luc founded his brand in 1977 together with Marie-Françoise and hasn't sold any Cognac in bulk since 2006, while the Lhéraud family has been selling its Cognac under its own name since 1978. Theresa, our designer, put exactly this David and Goliath story on the label.
The Pasquet half is Lot 94, the oldest cask of Pasquet's own production still maturing there. Pasquet does release many older casks, but the house bought those from neighbours, friends or other producers. Jean-Luc distilled the 1994 himself, and only two casks of it are left. Cuvée Résistance is a project of the two families and me.
Tasting Notes
In the glass, Cuvée Résistance is very oily; on the nose, light fruits like apricot and peach come first, with the wood staying in the background. On the palate it starts fruity with a light fruit sweetness, and the wood is more noticeable here than on the nose. Mid-palate it is very balanced and elegant: Lhéraud brings fruit, sweetness and power, while Pasquet counters with spice from the wood. The finish leaves spice and dark fruits.
Even though the blend is a single whole, the two houses come one after the other: at first you taste more Lhéraud with fruit and freshness, later more Pasquet with wood and spice. Cask #243 was clearly more intense and layered than the second 94 and keeps up with the Lhéraud, while the other one got lost in the blend. Lhéraud also needs both vintages. By comparison, the 1990 is drier, more powerful and more demanding, the 1994 fruitier, sweeter and more approachable. With only the 1990 the blend was less fun, with only the 1994 it was a bit too simple, and together we get the best of both.
Cuvée Résistance is so approachable and at the same time so complex that anyone who enjoys spirits will get a lot of pleasure from it. At our annual rarities tasting at the Armagnac, people said things like “I could drink this all day!” and “dangerously drinkable”.
As a side note: I used to think of blends as a step below a good Single Cask. Today I know how hard a good blend is, especially since it can change a lot again in the weeks and months after marrying.
The Producer
Cuvée Résistance brings together three casks from two independent houses, 50% from Pasquet (Grande Champagne) and 50% from Lhéraud (Petite Champagne), which makes it a Fine Champagne Cognac. Cognac has six crus, including Grande Champagne and Petite Champagne. A Fine Champagne is a blend of exactly these two with at least 50% Grande Champagne, as set out in the rules of the Cognac appellation.
Pasquet (Grande Champagne): Lot 94, distilled by Jean-Luc Pasquet in December 1994 and matured for 31 years in cask #243, of which 30 years in a dry cellar and the last year in a humid one. Over the years the spirit was gradually reduced in the cask, which is why Cuvée Résistance is not cask strength but exactly the strength that came out of the marriage: 47.7%. The cellar master is Jean Pasquet.
Lhéraud (Petite Champagne): two casks at cask strength, distilled in December 1990 and November 1994 by Laurent Lhéraud, the seventh generation, and matured for 35 years (1990) and 31 years (1994) in casks CL2120-3-14 and CL2522-17-6 in a humid cellar. The cellar master is Jean-Charles Lhéraud. The family has been distilling Cognac since 1800, and Guy Lhéraud of the sixth generation is still president of the house.
Flaschenanzahl: 180 Flaschen Zusätze: No additives Flascheninhalt: 70cl Artikelgewicht: 1.3 kg Hersteller: Grape of the Art (Distilled Grapes e.K., Balinger Str. 12, 70567 Stuttgart, Germany)
