Good spirits

With a general election no more than two years away, politicians are already squabbling about the reality or illusion of the feel-good factor among voters.

But in the on-trade at least, there are real grounds for optimism. Restaurants are fuller, and most places in the South-east, the area worst hit by the recession, are reporting turnover up by about 10% for the first quarter of 1995.

Even the blighted liqueurs business shows signs of recovery at the John Travolta-end of the market. Exotic liqueurs are now being aggressively marketed to younger drinkers in clubs as long drinks to be enjoyed over ice.

URM Agencies, for example, is involved in an extensive promotional programme to broaden the appeal of coffee-based liqueur Tia Maria. "Tia Maria can more than double its rate of sale when placed on optic," says Chris Banks, managing director of URM Agencies.

"What's more, it is currently outperforming the market in the on-trade, with sales up 10% over the past 12 months in an extremely buoyant liqueurs market."

In the less volatile traditional digestif market, the picture is also brighter. According to figures recently released by the Cognac Information Centre, imports of Cognac into the UK rose by about 8% in volume for the 12 months to December 1994.

But the brightest ray of sunshine for this famous brandy is that over the same period, the value of UK imports for superior VSOP Cognac were up by a thumping 19.3% - which strongly suggests that there's a grain of truth in the modish marketing wisdom that people are drinking less, but better.

No Cognac firm is a better exemplar of "small is beautiful" than Delamain of Jarnac. This little firm has a justified international reputation for pale, dry Cognacs of great class. The company, still family- owned, employs just 20 people and produces a modest 50,000 cases a year.

Alain Braastad, whose mother was a Delamain, heads the firm and he is a man totally committed to quality. Delamain Pale & Dry is his best-known brand, a 25-year-old Grande Fine Champagne Cognac which, as its name implies, is a pale, elegant brandy of real refinement.

The flavours of the wood are very discreet because only old casks are used to age the spirit. At £42 a bottle, Pale & Dry is not cheap, but it has a strong brand loyalty among the Cognac buffs.

Neighbours and relatives of the Delamains in Jarnac, the Hine family, make equally excellent Cognacs which have a very strong following in the UK. The firm was founded in 1782 by Thomas Hine, a Dorset man.

Now part of the Louis Vuitton Moët-Hennessy Group, the company is kept on the straight and narrow by cousins Jacques and Bernard Hine who make sure that the elegant yet firmly oaked Hine Cognac style is maintained.

Bernard Hine's outstanding abilities as a blender is best illustrated in the firm's famous brand, Hine Antique, with its bright chestnut colour, warm, kind flavour and just the right amount of oak.

Delamain and Hine are the old guard of Cognac. Leopold Gourmel is a relative newcomer to the Cognac scene with a very different approach but the same commitment to quality.

Pierre Voisin, a mechanical engineer and Volvo agent in Cognac for many years, set up this little operation in the mid-1970s to specialise in the light, early-maturing Cognacs from the Fins Bois district.

Gourmel Cognacs are the palest shade of gold and show exquisite fruit that one associates more with a fine wine than a powerful spirit. They have not a trace of caramel and come unblended from one provenance and from a single year, though no mention of the vintage appears on the label - this practice was banned in Cognac in 1946, dare one say to protect the blended products of the big houses.

Two Gourmel Cognacs should not be missed. The Age des Fleurs (10 years old) is delightfully fruity and floral, while the Age des Epices has a herbal, spicy style that is a wonderful partner for any chocolate dessert.

But not everyone likes the wood-influenced flavour of Cognac. Alsace, hard by the German border, is distinguished from other regions in France by a full range of clean, colourless digestifs made by fermenting and distilling the great quantities of soft fruits and berries grown locally.

These, when unsweetened, are known collectively as "alcools blancs". They are stored in glass vessels rather than wooden casks to preserve their water-whiteness.

Among the principal eaux de vie of Alsace are Framboise (raspberry); Fraise (strawberry); Kirsch (cherry); Myrtille (bilberry); Prunelle Savage (sloe); Poire William (William pear); Mirabelle (yellow plum); and Quetsch (red plum).

All make first-rate digestifs, especially after large Alsatian meals, and are best served in chilled glasses, the cold helping to accentuate the powerful bouquet. Eaux de vie are made by many producers, among the best being Metté and Marcel Windholtz of Ribeauville, and the Massenez family in the Villé valley at the foot of the Vosges Mountains.

Switzerland also produces exceptional fruit brandies, the finest one I know being the Williamine (poire William) from Morand of Martigny in the French-speaking Valais district. I haven't been able to track a UK source for this nectar, so here's a chance for a brave and intrepid importer.

Finally, don't ignore great Calvados from the Vallée d'Auge in Normandy. The best producer by common agreement is Adrien Camut, whose "Hors d'Age" is a wonderful smooth apple brandy with an average age of 20 years.