FPP's Best Moment(s): Cognac - Spending the day with the Fillioux Family at Domaine de La Pouyade in Grande Champagne…And More

On my tenth trip to Cognac in 2012 when I was awarded Cognac Personality of the Year by the BNIC, I spent an afternoon with the Fillioux family, Pascal, Monique and son Christophe, at their 63-acre estate in the prime acreage of Grande Champagne, the famed Golden Triangle consisting of Verridres, Angeac-Champagne and juillac-le-Coq. Their estate-grown Jean Fillioux Grande Champagne Cognacs, which I view as among the 2 or 3 best of the entire region, have consistently earned four (6 expressions) and five stars (another 6 expressions) throughout the years of reviewing them.

Visiting the remarkably humble and down-to-earth Pascal and the glamorous Monique — who also happens to be a fabulous cook — was a special treat. Seeing how they tend their vineyards and take immense pride in everything they do, from the viticulture to the fermenting and distilling to the aging and bottling, told me all I needed to know about why they produce magical elixirs from this hallowed ground. When they treated me to a taste of very, very old cognacs from their cellar, I felt as though at that moment there was no one luckier to be alive on the planet.

Perhaps, what I remember most, aside from the scrumptious lunch served up by Monique, was that when Pascal drove me back to the train station, he wouldn't leave my side until the right train came, to make sure I didn't miss it. This act of kindness is something I'll always remember from the man who with his son makes some of the finest, most classic spirits in the entire world.