* News Updates
* Special offers
* Post reviews
Create Account

Video Transcript: The Value of Cognac with Alessandra Rotondi

Written By: ClassicWines.com Team on Monday, August 25, 2008

Brian Freedman: Welcome to the Classic Wines Minute, brought to you by classicwines.com, I am your host Brian Freedman. Today we are here at Brasserie Cognac in New York with Sommelier Alessandra Rotondi.

Alessandra Rotondi: Hi!

Brian Freedman: I have been practicing that.

Alessandra Rotondi: Yeah, you pronounced perfectly; Rotondi that means rounded, because also we are talking about wine, so my last name is absolutely perfect.

Brian Freedman: So this makes my job easy.

Alessandra Rotondi: Yeah.

Brian Freedman: Excellent. Well, Alessandra, as the Sommelier here, tell me a little bit about the food that's been served here, and how you go about pairing wine with that food; specifically the role that cognac plays in that.

Alessandra Rotondi: Okay. So we are in Brasserie Cognac, so we are in France, although the restaurant is owned by Italian people; two Italian people, Vittorio and Fabio, we have to consider that we are absolutely in France. So everything has been told to respect French cuisine and French wine.

Our chef is Florian Hugo, who is absolutely from France, is a grand, grand, grandson of Victor Hugo.

Brian Freedman: Sure, great pedigree.

Alessandra Rotondi: Absolutely. Our cuisine is absolutely French. We have Lobster Bisque that is gorgeous. So we have a lot of people coming from France, a lot of tourists, and they say that they feel the atmosphere like they were in Paris, like they were in France.

We have many dishes prepared using the cognac like the Lobster Flambé and also the Filet Mignon Flambé. So cognac is very protagonist of this restaurant, that we have in our list 102 kinds of different cognac.

Brian Freedman: I don't think most people realize that there are that many different kinds of cognac out there.

Alessandra Rotondi: No, there are so many, and people here can enjoy any kind of cognac. They can have selection; they can have different shots, paired with different food. They can see absolutely live all the preparation made in the kitchen using that cognac, because there are people; waiters, but also the general manager, who serve the Lobster and the Filet Mignon, flaming with the cognac.

Brian Freedman: I don't think most people realize that you can pair cognac with food; I think they are very surprised.

Alessandra Rotondi: Yeah, they don't, but this is our goal, our objective to teach people, to let them know that cognac is not only something to end with, but you can have a cognac also during the main course, like the wine. I am a wine expert, I am a sommelier, so in theory, I should push on wine, but according to me, anything that is enjoyable is great.

Brian Freedman: Well, a good sommelier understands how to pair both wine, cognac, beer, all of these things.

Alessandra Rotondi: Even because I started as a sommelier in Italy, and in order to get the degree to be a sommelier, you have to study like you were in the university. You have to study absolutely anything about spirits, alcohol; so wine, cognac, tequila, vodka, and beer, anything that is high in alcohol.

Brian Freedman: Okay. Well, it sounds like a nice way to spend your career.

Alessandra Rotondi: Yeah, absolutely. I am enjoying.

Brian Freedman: Well, thank you Alessandra, it's a pleasure to meet you.

Alessandra Rotondi: Thank you.

Brian Freedman: Thank you for having us. From all of us here at classicwines.com, I am your host, Brian Freedman. Cheers.

Alessandra Rotondi: Cheers, with lots of cognac.

Send to a Friend Add to: Digg Add to: Del.icio.us

  Be the first to comment on this article

You need to log into your ClassicWines account to leave a comment on this article. You can log in here. If you do not have a Classic Wines account you can sign up here.