Germain-Robin

Germain-Robin, based in Ukiah, California, is a maker of brandy.

The distillery was founded in 1982 by Ansley J. Coale, a local rancher, and Hubert Germain-Robin, a native of Cognac, France.

Coale, a former Berkeley professor of ancient history, had bought 2,000 acres (809 ha) of farmland outside of Ukiah, named Eagle Ridge Ranch, in 1973. By chance, one day in 1981 he picked up Germain-Robin, who was hitchhiking throughout California in search of a location to make brandy. Germain-Robin came from a family that had been making cognac under the name Jules Robin & Company, but had recently sold the business to Martell, prompting Germain-Robin to leave.

Ronald Reagan was an aficionado of Germain-Robin brandies and reserved a number of barrels for the White House, which he served as a matter of national pride to visiting dignitaries such as Mikhail Gorbachev and François Mitterrand. The brandy was also served at Bill Clinton's inaugural ball

One innovation is that in Cognac, brandy is made mostly of the Ugni blanc grape (known in Italy as Trebbiano), which in the region makes a juice unsuitable for drinking as a wine. By contrast Germain-Robin used, and continues to use, high-quality wine grapes. Initially it used locally produced Pinot noir, and it continues to use exclusively Mendocino County grapes, generally Colombard and Semillon, as well as some Zinfandel and Viognier. Another innovation is that rather than blending the wine, Germain-Robin produces single-varietal and single-vineyard brandies.

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