Cognac is a drink of noble amber color with a multifaceted, rich velvety taste. And only the French are fluent in the art of transforming young wine into fiery alcohol with a rich flavor bouquet.
The history of the emergence of cognac
Cognac - the largest city in the Charente department, was a developed commercial center for the sale of salt. Local wines were produced for personal use and a little for sale. Dutch merchants who came for salt, having tasted local drinks, began to buy and export wine.
Focusing on the emerging demand, the French begin to expand vineyards and develop production. Due to the fact that the quality of the young wine was not up to the mark, during the transportation the drink spoiled, acidified and fizzled out. Then the Dutch tried to prepare "burnt wine" by distillation. The resulting wine alcohol easily tolerated transportation, did not lose its strength and did not deteriorate.
The resourceful Dutch hoped that upon arriving home, they would be able to restore the wine by adding water to the distillate. To the great disappointment of the experimenters, they did not succeed in wine, however, they liked the new form of alcohol. The new drink became known as brandwijn, and then brandy.
The French quickly realized the benefits of the new product. In addition, the provinces have greatly raised the tax on wine exports. Winemakers designed distillation stills, improved technology and began to trade in the result of distillation.
In the 12th century, industrialists discovered that double distillation produced a higher quality and purer wine alcohol. Since then, the wine has been subjected to double distillation. And during one long voyage, the alcohol stayed in oak barrels for a considerable time.
When the drink was dispensed from barrels for sale, it was noticed that the liquid acquired a noble golden color and a particularly pleasant taste. Alcohol began to be consumed in its pure form. All spirits brought from the French Charente were called "cognac".
Modern production of cognac
Today's cognac production process is not much different from the production of the 12th century. Special requirements are imposed on the grapes from which cognac will subsequently be produced. Berries of the Ugni Blanc variety are considered the optimal raw material, the wine is very sour, with a low sugar content.
Harvesting is done primarily by hand to avoid any degradation in the quality of the raw materials. When extracting grape juice, special presses are used. It is forbidden to squeeze the berries dry, otherwise grape seed oil may get into the liquid, which will noticeably distort the taste of the drink.
After fermentation, the resulting wine is subjected to primary distillation. They use a specially shaped Charentes alembic with a volume of 5 thousand liters. Secondary distillation is carried out in a boiler with a volume of not more than 30 decaliters.
The laws of the production of cognac require distillation to be carried out strictly on March 31st. Thus, the aging countdown for any cognac starts from April 1.
The primary aging of cognac is carried out in roasted oak barrels. The wood for packaging must only be from the forests of Limousin or Tronse. Cognac is kept in such barrels at a certain humidity and temperature for no more than 5 years. Then it is poured into old barrels, where it gradually decreases in volume, reduces the strength, reaching 42 -50 degrees.
Experts determine the peak of aging and after that the cognac is poured into glass containers, in which it can be stored for tens or even hundreds of years.
To obtain a certain brand of drink, cognac is subjected to blending - certain types of alcohol are mixed. To achieve a certain alcohol strength, if the cognac alcohol is too strong, distilled water is added. The addition of caramel and sugar is officially allowed, but the famous cognac houses pride themselves on not using such "tricks."
