Germain-Robin
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Germain-Robin, based in Ukiah, California, is a maker of brandy.
The distillery was founded in 1982 by Ansley J. Coale Jr., a local rancher, and Hubert Germain-Robin, a native of Cognac, France.[1]
Coale, a former Berkeley professor of ancient history and son of Princeton demographer Ansley Coale, Sr.,[2] 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.[3] 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.[2]
Ronald Reagan was an aficionado of Germain-Robin brandies and reserved a number of barrels for the White House that 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.[4]
Differing from the Cognac brandies he made earlier in his life, which were made mostly of the Ugni blanc grape (which many in the region found unpalatable as a wine), Germain-Robin used high-quality wine grapes.[3] Initially, they primarily used locally produced Pinot noir, and they later added Colombard, Semillon, Zinfandel and Viognier to their stocks, exclusively sourced from Mendocino County.[4] In addition to blends, Germain-Robin produces single-varietal and single-vineyard brandies.[4]
In 2006, Germain-Robin left the company to become an independent consultant and run seminars and workshops with the American Distilling Institute. He wrote the book Traditional Distillation, Art & Passion.[5]
In August 2017, Germain-Robin was purchased by E & J Gallo for an undisclosed sum.[6]