What is Cognac?

Cognac originated many centuries ago. It all started in the 15th century when the Dutch brought the distillation process to France, or rather to the Charente region.
The Charente River was particularly important in the past as it served as an international trade route for the transport of wine and salt.
The city of Cognac, through which the Charente river flows, quickly became famous mainly for its wine trade.

The primary aim of distilling the wine was to make it last longer so that it could be transported long distances by ships and boats without going bad.
The Dutch originally distilled their wine at home, before eventually deciding to distill it on site in France. This is how the first distilleries were born in France.
By the way, the word brandy comes from the Dutch brandwijn.
The high-proof brandy was mixed with water to receive the original drink, the wine, back.
It was also served as medicine at this time.

In order to make the distillation process more efficient, it was decided to switch to copper stills. The so-called alambics.
At the beginning of the 17th century, people switched to double distillation to make the cognac even more resistant. The French then began to optimize the distillation process more and more.
 
There is a very funny legend about the Lord of Segonzac. He was a very pious man who one day had a dream that Satan was condemning his soul.
The Lord found himself in the devil's cauldron, but because his faith was so deeply rooted in his soul, he was able to resist the first "boiling" and in order to achieve his goal, Satan had to "boil" him again. This is how the idea of ​​double distillation was born and it then became widespread everywhere.

It was probably more of a coincidence that the loading of the ships was delayed and it was discovered that if the spirit matured longer in the casks, you could then drink it directly from the cask. 

It was then in 1643 when the first cognac house, called Augier, was founded. They still produce cognac today.
Others followed in the 18th century, such as Martell, Remy Martin, Delamain, Hine and Hennesy.
Cognac quickly became famous throughout Europe and was known for its elegance and sophistication. 

In the 19th century, the shipping of cognac experienced a real boom. While in 1799 there were 36,000 hl, in 1879 it were already 478,000 hl. Which was also thanks to the free trade agreement between France and England in 1860.

By the middle of the 19th century, Cognac was no longer transported in casks but in bottles. As a result, the glass industry also achieved a breakthrough.

In 1887 there were over 280,000 ha of vineyards.
At the end of the 19th century the famous phylloxera infestation occurred.
Of the 280,000 hectares of wine-growing areas, 42,000 hectares remained.
Which in turn led to more resistant grape varieties being imported from the USA.

However, this new grape variety could not cope with the calcareous soil and so it took many years of hard work for this grape variety to adapt. The previously cultivated grape varieties Colombard, Folle Blanche, etc. were then increasingly replaced by the Ugni Blanc grape. Today this makes up around 98% of the grape varieties.

Today, Cognac is subject to the protective seal of the Appelation d’origine Controlee (AOC), a controlled designation of origin. In addition, it is subject to a requirement specification. This includes what the cognac must fulfill in order to be called cognac.

The Cognac region is nowadays divided into six different crus (wine-growing areas). It is important that the grapes used for the Cognac must come from at least one of these regions: 

• Grande Champagne
• Petite Champagne 
• Borderies
• Fins Bois 
• Bons Bois 
• Bois Ordinaires 

The calcareous soils and maritime climate in the Cognac region ensure optimal wine-growing conditions.
The Cognac region is divided into six different growing areas:

Grande Champagne: 

Consists predominantly of calcareous soils, is very mountainous and, with 13,250 ha of vineyards, is the third largest of the 6 crus. You get more a floral cognac note here. 

Petite Champagne: 

Less mountainous, the soil is also very calcareous. 15,250 ha 2nd largest growing area. The cognac also has a more floral note, albeit a little lighter. 

Borderies:
4,000 hectares of wine-growing area with a rather loamy soil with lots of flint. Which results in a very unique taste. Here we are more in the nutty and caramel direction. 

Fins Bois: 

31,200 ha of vineyards, the largest area of ​​the 6 crus. The soil here is a mixture of clay and lime. In terms of taste, the Fins Bois Cognac is more rounded, smooth and tastes of fresh fruit. 

Bons Bois: 

9,300 ha of cultivated land here, the soil is more of a mixture of sand, clay and lime. Which gives the cognac from this region a more round taste. 

Bois Ordinaires: 

1,066 ha smallest cultivated area. The soil here is mostly sandy. The islands of Ile de Ré and Ile d’Oleron also belong to this cru. Due to this proximity to the sea, these cognacs develop a special maritime taste. 

As we already learned in the history section, the main grape used to make cognac is Ugni Blanc.

Ugni Blanc provides a primarily fruity taste with notes such as lemon or quince. In addition, there are also grape varieties such as:

Folle Blanche: Flavors like peach or apple. Very intense in taste and

Colombard: slightly woodier in taste with exotic fruits and nectarines, rhubarb.

As well as the slightly lesser known varieties Montils and Folignan.

The harvested grapes, which are mainly harvested from mid-September, are pressed by compressed air presses immediately after harvest.
The resulting must is then fermented into wine. This then has a low alcohol content of 9% ABV. In addition, the pressing process ensures an optimal concentration of aromatic substances in the grapes and a high acid content. This also allows the wine to be preserved very well.

When making wine it is strictly forbidden to add sugar. Which in turn guarantees that the fruitiness of the grapes is retained. The double distillation process then begins. This is also called “chauffes”, which means “to heat”. This creates the so-called “Brouillis”, i.e. the first distillate.
The first distillate is then distilled again (called “repasse or bonne chauffe”). This produces a clear alcohol, called “eau de vie” (water of life), with a very high alcohol content. However, this must not exceed 72.4% ABV.
The second distillation process removes the initial and final runs. Which in turn can be added to another double distillation.
The distillation process must be completed by March 31, the year following the harvest.

The resulting eau de vie (water of life) must then mature in French limousine oak casks for at least two years before it can officially be called cognac.
Compared to American oak casks, French oak casks have the great advantage that they contain fewer tannins and greater pigmentation.
The pigmentation gives the cognac its somewhat reddish color.
By the way, you can use up to 20% of an oak tree to make casks.
The casks are then stored in either very dry to very humid cellars. Depending on how it is stored, this gives the cognac another different flavor. 

Long-aged cognacs produce a smooth, rich and aromatically complex taste.
They also create the rancio taste known for old cognac. Rancio can be recognized by its autumnal, musty, mushroomy and oily taste.

When maturing the cognac in the cask, it is important to always monitor the maturation process. Because not every cognac matures same. So, it's important to have a keen nose and a good sense of taste.

If you want to bottle a cask at some point and you want to indicate the exact vintage on the bottle (e.g. 1970), then this is only possible if the opening and closing of the cask is monitored by the National Cognac Bureau (The Bureau National Interprofessionnel du Cognac, BNIC for short).
After opening and re-closing the casks, they are sealed with an appropriate wax seal in the presence of an appropriately authorized person. This is also the explanation why there are not that many vintage cognacs and the addition “Lot” is often used. In the example just mentioned it would then be a Lot 70 and not a 1970 Cognac.

If the cognac is not to be bottled as a single cask or vintage cognac, you can also mix it with other cognacs and create a so called VSOP or XO, for example.
In addition, you can also add distilled water to the cognac when mixing it to reduce it to a desired alcohol strength. This dilution process is called dilution.

There is also the option of storing the matured Cognac in so-called Dame Jeanne (also called Demijohn). These are glass balloons with a capacity of 5 to 54 liters.
Although the maturation process has been completed, this creates the possibility of storing fully matured Cognac for a longer period of time and bottling it at some point.
This is also the reason why you still regularly get very old (>100 years) cognacs today.

As just mentioned, in addition to the single cask and vintage bottlings, there are so-called blends and mixed cognacs.

These are, for example:

VS (Very Special Cognac)
Min. 2 years old

VSOP (Very Superior Old Pale)
Min. 4 years old

XO (Extra Old)                                     
Min. 10 years old

XXO (Extra Extra Old)                            
Min. 14 years old

Napoleon Cognac                                 
Min. 6 years old 

Reserve Cognac                                    
Min. 10 years old but on average at least 25 years old

Hors d’Age Cognac                      
Age between 30 and 50 years. Sometimes even 100 years or more. 

An Hors d’Age is one of the oldest cognacs you can get, next to the Ancestral or Trés Vieille Reserve. 

We speak of Ancestral when these are the oldest barrels that the respective Domaine has to offer. 

The Trés Vieille Reserve is actually equivalent to this. Here the average age can be 80 years or higher.

Extra Cognac                                      

The average age is between 15 and 25 years. So it's a little bit above the XO. 

Cuvee Cognac                             

There is no minimum or average age here. Rather, it's to emphasize the very high quality of the cognac.