Discover the new Ateliers Camus collection: Poets & birds

The Poets & Birds collection is the expression of a spiritual heritage, into which Cyril Camus breathes new life with all the fervor of a business leader navigating languages and cultures, from the unchanging to the transcendent, in constant pursuit of excellence. A triptych of cognacs that encapsulates the secrets and essence of the Borderies cru in a legacy built on clay, limestone, and flint, all carefully blended following a craft that has been fiercely defended for five generations. Through distillation, this craft can restore the soul that runs deep through the region’s 500 year history.

Camus wanted to pay tribute to the most elegant and refined animals of the animal kingdom, birds, by inviting the designer Janaïna Milheiro to combine her mastery of feather art with Camus cognacs. Like a poet who sculpts and chisels her words to arrange her sonnets, using feathers, this Parisian artist has decorated eighteen carafes
transforming them into Japanese Cranes, red Ibis and Phoenix. And Camus has composed three blends inspired by these emblematic birds, selecting and assembling cognacs according to their age and specificity. The highest tradition of French creation has always been inspired by the wonders of Mother Nature, and no beast is more beautiful and inspiring than the bird.

If the art of featherwork represents Haute Couture, this savoir-faire also comes into play
in creating Ateliers Camus’ exceptional pieces. This material broad palette of effects and colors offers an exceptional range of expression, reflected in a uniqueness that captivates from the very first glance, in a world where delight and elegance are the watchwords.

The Crane

Cranes are long-legged and among the most elegant birds in the world with an imposing wingspan of almost two meters. The bearing of these migratory wetland birds is magnificent; they never lose their balance when they fish. Japanese Cranes are famous for their refined courting ballet, and their pure white plumage contrasts with their secondary feathers which, at the neck and extremity of the wings, are a
deep black.

Janaïna Milheiro’s work poetically suggests the graceful movements of these birds, especially at the time of their courtship, when couples perform jumps and bows to celebrate the love and fidelity of which they are the symbols. Alas, in the middle of the 20th century, this magnificent wading bird almost disappeared from the island of Hokkaido. Now, its population is growing again thanks to the goodwill of men: the Crane has now inspired Camus to produce cognacs that are unique in their balance.

“If you clap your hands and sing, the yellow crane will come down to dance” said the
immortal Xian. Faced with the unexpected and the extraordinary, our senses tend to find rational explanations for the taste of this Borderies cognac. Its fusion of aromas offers a true depth of sensation. In the magic world of the Maison Camus wine cellars, watched over by Julie Landreau and her fellow wizards, they have spent 160 years
practicing the art of creating exceptional cognacs that captivate the senses and seem to stop time…

A rare, precious mixture is the origin of this subtle, reserved blend. Cognacs made from
Ugni Blanc grapes and aged for a guaranteed minimum of 13 and 17 years are paired with the elegant power of a cognac aged for a guaranteed minimum of 14 years made from Colombard grapes. Finally, the union is sublimated with an hors d’âge cognac from the family’s private reserves. The perfect harmony of the blend balance perfectly symbolizes the smallest, rarest, and most precious of cognac crus: The Borderies.

The Ibis

Eudocimus ruber, the red Ibis in the descriptive and poetic Latin of the scientist Linnaeus, means ‘‘famous red bird’’, because the Ibis is well known and its beauty is legendary. The feathers of the first decorated carafe are a tribute to the color of Ibis, covering its whole body. Similarly, the second carafe emphasizes its gregarious character, which leads it to live in the marshes among thousands of its like.

Small in size and light in weight, the Ibis has a soft colorful silhouette, reinforced by a robust curved beak effective for feeding. It lives around 20 years, and its courtship is
fearless. In the last carafe, the wings designed by Janaïna Milheiro suggest the refinement of this erotic dance.

Where science and art meet lies a wisdom rooted in 160 years of experience and expertise. Here, this Borderies cognac deploys its fantastical seductive powers in a sophisticated masterpiece: a skillful blend of two hors d’âge single-cru cognacs made only with Ugni Blanc grapes.

The blend has the unique distinction of coming from two plots: La Fontaine and Grand Bussac. These two plots encapsulate the secrets and ultimate truth of the Borderies cru in a legacy built on clay, limestone, and flint, all carefully blended following a craft that has been fiercely defended for five generations. Through distillation, this craft can restore the soul of the wines that runs deep through the region’s 500-year history. An exceptional hors d’âge cognac, the product of the land, with a bold character that shines through in its aromatic power, its floral aromas, and its rounded, creamy texture.

The Phoenix

The Phoenix is a mythical bird, with its home in the fertile imagination of men. No ornithologist will ever study it. And yet everyone recognizes its unreal beauty: its claws are adorned with rubies and its neck is fine gold. At the moment of death, after 1,000 years of life, the Phoenix builds a nest of nard, cinnamon, myrrh and incense, lies down, setting fire to it, then burns, dies and is reborn in the beat of its wings.

This ‘‘firebird’’ has feathers of flames, and stirs our imagination. It embodies time, power and majesty. Its quest is an artist dream, which has inspired three poems of feathers and crystal at Maison Camus.

The remarkable work carried out by Julie Landreau embodies a meeting between two
powerful symbols: Camus distillation and the immortal divine Phoenix, an iconic fire creature that is reborn from the ashes.

What could be more substantial, more promising, more full of life, and yet more mysterious than a Borderies wine from the Domaines Camus? Steeped in sacred enigmas, it is only through exposure to fire that we can unlock— liter after liter, following the exclusive Camus aromatic selection principle—the extraordinary revelations that have been accumulating for over 500 years.

To achieve its golden hue, the colorless divinity will have to age slowly in 350-liter oak barrels in the silent, shadowy stillness of the Camus cellars. Thus, after a minimum of 49, 34, 14, and 12 years, respectively, the four Ugni Blanc eaux-de-vie become true cognacs, bearing witness to the incomparable quality that only a talented distiller can obtain from an opportune piece of land.