Charent'euse is a gueuze blended from lambics aged in cognac barrels from Charente, the French department where the real cognac comes from. Other producers who have experimented with lambics aged in cognac barrels have already shown what this combination is capable of, so expectations for this one are high.

Frothy, sparkling, audibly crisp, protein-like foam that slowly collapses and dissolves over a misty warm apricot blonde liquid with a deeper ochre-like glow and small bubbles rising from the bottom of the glass. Noble and complex bouquet of unripe apricot, lots of old oak (even wooden furniture), calamansi, characteristic cognac but drier than the more famous brands, dried apple slices, wet leather, Sémillon grape must, acacia gum, old dry sherry, hints of red mold cheese, yellow plum, Poire William, the dry remnants of sparkling wine, crumbled dry earth.

Sparkling attack, high and mineral effervescence as befits the style, sour but rounded, with a lime acidity that eventually becomes lemony, enclosed by a milder touch of semi-ripe apricot, yellow plum and hard nectarine - sour and pungent enough to retain freshness, but with a softer element inside that not only provides balance, but also body; The mineral carbonation effects accompany a slender bready heart, dried by a strong streak of lactic acid, which here acts as a firm backbone and leads the flavors to a beautiful finish in which all the essential elements come together: persistent acidic fruits, tannic woodiness with even a hint of vanilla retronasal and the Cognac proper, with must and tartaric acid elements as well as a deep, 'autumnal' dried fruitiness of an aromatic kind, which permeates again and again.