Andre Petit Les Quatre Annees de Berneuil 44,3%

Facing Notre-Dame

This one is a cask strength (in cognac terms) from Andre Petit, in Berneuil. Andre Petit owns vines in P.C, F.B, and B.B, but there is a lot to say about the Bons Bois part (I’ll get back to this point in another session). This Andre Petit Les Quatre Annees de Berneuil gets its name from its composition: it’s a full Bons Bois made of 4 different years: 1983, 1985, 1988, and 1993. 

Colour: Old gold, orange lights. Irregular medium tears.

Nose: Earthy and musky notes at first. A tad on citruses too. Quite heady. Ample nutty scents on roasted hazelnuts and dry walnut. A few caramel sweets/toffee smell in the background.

Mouth: Very sweet texture. Still on walnuts but surrounded by heavy salted butter caramel notes. Nice bitter chocolate aftertaste. Cooked fruits aftertaste on plums and figs. Hints of candied orange too.

Last Notes: Cooked vegetables and herbs scents now. Caramelized carrots, leek cream, and fennel. A tad of rancioted notes on overripe orchards and rotten peach. Hints of wood scents, mainly on varnished wood. A little freshness with mint leaves smells. Back on the palate, you find caramelized plum notes melted to spiced aromas on white pepper and caraway. Strong caramel sweets aftertaste underlined by a little touch of acidity on tangerine juice.

Not too bad. Maybe this Andre Petit Les Quatre Annees de Berneuil could be better with a tad more balance. A bit like the VT L’Essentiel, a little too much wood influence in my humble opinion. 

My very subjective note: 86/100

Andre Petit’s website