In la Rochelle since 1588

I

A foothold
in La Rochelle

The House of Godet, the forefather of cognac, was founded in La Rochelle, in the west of France, in the 16th Century and given the seal of approval by King Henry IV. Five centuries and fifteen generations later, Godet is still very much a family business.

Our ancestor Bonaventure Godet was a Dutch merchant and a long-distance sailor. In 1550, he dropped anchor in La Rochelle to export salt and wine. The port town would soon become the birthplace of cognac.

La Rochelle was a strategic site on the west coast of France, a major hub of maritime trade on the Atlantic Ocean, sheltered by the Pertuis d’Antioche sound and delimited by the islands of Ré and Oléron.

The land along the coast of La Rochelle is covered with some of the oldest vineyards in France. Bonaventure took advantage of these favourable conditions when he set up his winery on the banks of the Maubec canal in La Rochelle.

He soon began to export his wine by boat to Holland, Flanders, England, and all Northern Europe.

Bonaventure

1588

TRANSFORMATION

Bonaventure was one of the first traders to distil their wine to preserve it better, decrease its volume and export it in barrels by the ocean. Resulting from a technical necessity, this burnt wine, brandewijn in Dutch, was soon enjoyed as it was and recognized for its quality. This was the birth of cognac, not yet known by this name. In 1588, Bonaventure Godet received a letter of recognition from King Henry IV of France congratulating him for the quality of his distilled wine and offering him his protection.

Jean Godet

1699

ENNOBLING

Jean Godet was ennobled under the reign of Louis XIV in 1699. He was given a coat of arms with three goblets and a star. This would permanently seal the union of our family with cognac and it is still used today on all our bottles.

Louis-Gédéon Godet

1782

BIRTH OF A BRAND

In 1782, Gédéon-Louis Godet, of the seventh generation, made the existence of the Godet House official and shipped the first Godet sealed bottles.

Auguste-Alphonse Godet

1860

RESILIENCE

Auguste-Alphonse Godet, husband of Louise Hivert-Pellevoisin, expanded the family’s influence in the brandy trade. A symbol of Cognac Godet’s resilience, he dealt with and withstood the phylloxera infestation that hit our vineyards in 1860.

Jean Godet

1920

PROHIBITION

Jean Godet took advantage of prohibition, which started in 1920 and prohibited the production, distribution or sale of alcohol of the American soil, to successfully develop a cognac distribution network across the Atlantic.

Jacques Godet

1943

RESISTANCE

Jacques Godet joined the Resistance in 1943. He was arrested and escaped to join the French army in the same year. A large quantity of the Godet House stocks was plundered during the Occupation. Our cellars and vineyards were ruined. Only a few bottles were secretly saved in a walled underground cellar. Some of these eaux-de-vie are still miraculously preserved today.

Jean-Jacques Godet

1995

RENAISSANCE

Following the sale of our house to an American group in the 1980s, Jean-Jacques Godet, our father, managed to buy back the company in 1995, after long negotiations and thanks to his keen business acumen and an unbridled passion for the House of his forebears. From La Rochelle, he travelled the world, successfully developing the brand, particularly in the USA and on the “Four Asia Tigers” market.

Jean-Édouard Godet

2023

HANDOVER

After many long years of learning, with the father passing on his knowledge to his son, Jean-Edouard became our master blender. Cellar master, he embodies the 15th generation alongside us, Maxime and Cyril Godet. Deeply rooted in La Rochelle, we are beginning a new chapter of this family adventure at Château de la Sauzaie, where land and sea meet, and all around the world.

Our father’s great grandson, Jean Godet, was ennobled under the reign of Louis XIV in 1699. He was given a coat of arms with three goblets and a star. This would permanently seal the union of our family with cognac and it is still used today on all our bottles.

Five centuries later, we, the three brothers of the fifteenth generation, Jean Édouard, Maxime and Cyril, are committed to perpetuating the production of our oceanic cognac in a joint effort.
Deeply rooted in La Rochelle, we are beginning a new chapter of this family adventure at Château de la Sauzaie. The great history of La Rochelle unfolded in our 17th century château. Richelieu and King Louis XIII lived there during the siege of the maritime city.

The great history of La Rochelle unfolded in our 17th century château.
Richelieu and King Louis XIII lived there during the siege of the maritime city.

II

Oceanic
know-how

From our family history, shaped by the Atlantic Ocean, we have inherited a solid resilience, and rare, artisanal know-how that we draw on to create clean, crystal-clear, additive-free cognacs.

It is a collective endeavour, carried out with our partner wine growers and wine makers, distillers, master coopers, managed by Jean Edouard, our cellar master.

The vines that produce our cognacs are exposed to a mild climate as well as all the force of the ocean. They have been located on the Atlantic Ocean since our House was founded in the 16th Century, and they benefit from a unique climate, often providing the best conditions with a few occasional extremes.

Mild climate, sunshine, brisk sea air, humidity, clay-limestone soil... the terroirs that give birth to our cognacs are ideal for the maturation of grapes. Facing the ocean and subject to its whims, they also experience tough weather, with both storms and droughts. So, for five centuries, our family has lived in sync with the seasons, tides and strong gales.
We have learned to be resilient to the elements and the sea. In 1875, phylloxera, a devastating aphid from America, came across the ocean and sorely tested our coastal vines. While most of La Rochelle’s vineyards were destroyed, our ancestors replanted and rebuilt theirs around the maritime city. Our House is the only one left with a foothold in La Rochelle.

Proud of this legacy, we strive to maintain the precious grape varieties that almost disappeared due to the phylloxera pest and which were thought to be too sensitive to cold, frost and rot.

Driven by a commitment to preserving the past, as opposed to an industrial approach, we now continue to produce limited quantities of rare grape varieties from the six crus of Cognac.

Driven by a commitment to preserving the past, as opposed to an industrial approach, we now continue to produce limited quantities of rare grape varieties from the six crus of Cognac.
While the majority of cognacs are now produced using Ugni blanc, we continue to select the grape varieties of our forebears for our eaux-de-vie: Folle Blanche, Montils and Colombard, which now only represent a small share of the production in France.

We are committed to sustainable viticulture, which favours grape variety diversity and soil quality.

The vines that give birth to our cognacs are exposed to a mild climate as well as all the force of the ocean. They have been located on Atlantic Ocean since our House was founded in the 16th century, and they benefit from a unique climate, often providing the best conditions with a few occasional extremes.

Mild climate, sunshine, brisk sea air, humidity, clay-limestone soil… these terroirs are ideally located for the maturation of grapes. Facing the ocean and subject to its whims, they also experience tough weather, with both storms and droughts. So, for five centuries, our family has lived in sync with the seasons, tides and strong gales.

We have learned to be resilient to the elements and the sea. In 1875, phylloxera, a devastating aphid from America, came across the ocean and sorely tested our coastal vines. While most of La Rochelle’s vineyards were destroyed, our ancestors replanted and rebuilt theirs around the maritime city. Our House is the only one left with a foothold in La Rochelle.

The Godet House is the only producer to have kept its cellars, facing the Atlantic Ocean, in La Rochelle, since 1550.

"The mild climate, brisk sea air and humidity level on this site, subtly infuse the eaux de vie, favouring its maturation and making them particularly mellow. The sea air and the oak wood gradually develop the aromas of our cognacs over the years.
Our traditional Château de La Sauzaie cellars provide ideal aging conditions where land meets sea. We line up our oak casks from the Limousin regions here, as has been done for five centuries. At the heart of the Aunis wines’ birthplace, the 17th-century building houses a chapel, where the Chai Paradis can be found."

The oldest and most cherished eaux de vie are kept here religiously. In particular, our rare vintage cognacs, the oldest dating back to 1848, that preserve the past in round demijohns.

Beyond the ageing process, the art of blending is what gives our ocean cognacs their character. A human and cultural legacy handed down in our family. Jean Edouard, the cellar master, who guarantees the excellence of Godet cognacs, is part of this lineage and, along with his two brothers, embodies the 15th generation. After many long years of learning, with the father passing on his knowledge to his son, he became our master blender. Over the years, he has built up a unique collection of cognacs, bringing together hundreds of eaux de vie. Like a composer, he draws visual and olfactory memories from these sensory archives to select his aromas.

By blending these terroirs and drawing on tones found in nature, our cellar master creates the unique taste experience of our cognac.

Our job is to let nature express itself in our nectars.

"The art of selection is a subtle balance between family knowledge and instinct. An intuitive, sensory approach, that gives intensity and aromatic complexity to Godet cognacs. Jean Édouard reproduces in the cognacs the taste sensation that emerges as he carries out his delicate research.
His approach is honest and exacting, in search of a clean and crystalline taste, in keeping with the ocean spirit that dwells in us, a far cry from the heavy thick standards. Driven by this quest, he strives to work without additives or sugar, and aims to produce ever purer cognacs, with a light, floral taste, and very little tannin."

Facing the Ocean

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