Cognac (drink)

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Cognac, named after the town of Cognac in France, is a brandy, which is produced in the region surrounding the town. It must be made from at least 90% Ugni Blanc, Folle Blanche, or Colombard grapes. The rest of the cognac can consist of ten selected grapes. However, most cognac is made from Ugni Blanc only. It must be distilled twice in copper pot stills and aged at least 2 and 1/2 years in French oak barrels in order to be called cognac.

A related drink produced in another region is Armagnac.

1 Producing region and legal definitions
2 Process of fabrication
3 Grades
4 Brands
5 Cognac in Popular Culture
6 External links
7 Companies
8 Cognac-based drinks

[edit] Producing region and legal definitions

Image:Carte du cognac.jpg

The region of Cognac, divided up into six growth areas, or crus (singular cru), covers the department of Charente-Maritime, a large part of the Charente and a few areas in Deux-Sèvres and the Dordogne. The six crus are, in order of decreasing appreciation of the cognacs coming from them: Grande Champagne, Petite Champagne, Borderies, Fins Bois, Bons Bois, and Bois Ordinaires.

A cognac made from just the first two of these crus (with at least 50% from Grande Champagne) is called "Fine Champagne" cognac, although cognac has nothing to do with the sparkling wine Champagne. ("Champagne" coming in both cases from old words alluding to agricultural fields.)

If a brandy is produced that fails to meet any of the strict criteria set down by the "governing body" of cognac, the BNIC – Bureau National Interprofessionel du cognac – it may not be called cognac, nor sold as such.

It must be produced within the delimited region, from wine using certain grape varieties;
It must be obtained through double distillation, in typical copper Charentais stills;
It must age in French oak barrels, which give it its color and part of its taste.

Many of the cognac producers in the town of Cognac and the surrounding area allow visitors to taste their product; the bigger companies have guided tours to show visitors how the cognac is made.

[edit] Process of fabrication

Image:Cognac pot still DSC04032.JPG Cognac is made from eaux-de-vie (literally, "waters of life") produced by doubly distilling the white wines produced in any of the growth areas. The wine is a very dry, acidic, thin wine, not really suitable for drinking, but excellent for distillation. It may only be made from a strict list of grape varieties. Distillation takes place in traditionally shaped Charentais copper stills, the design and dimensions of which are also controlled. Two distillations must be carried out; the resulting eau-de-vie is a colourless spirit of about 70% alcohol.

Cognac may not be sold to the public, or indeed called 'Cognac' until it has been aged for at least two years, counting from the end of the period of distillation (1 April following the year the grapes were harvested).

During the aging, a large percentage of the alcohol (and water) in the eaux-de-vie evaporates through the porous oak barrels. This is termed locally the "part des anges", or angels' share, a phrase also used in Scotch Whisky production. A black fungus, Torula compniacensis richon, thrives on the alcoholic vapours and normally grows on the walls of the aging cellars.

The final product is diluted to 40% alcohol content (80 proof) with pure and distilled water.

The age of the cognac is calculated as that of the youngest eau-de-vie used in the blend. The blend is usually of different ages and (in the case of the larger and more commercial producers) from different local areas. This blending, or marriage, of different eaux-de-vie is important to obtain a complexity of flavours absent from an eau-de-vie from a single distillery or vineyard. Each cognac house has a master taster (maître de chai) who is responsible for creating this delicate blend of spirits, so that the cognac produced by a company today will taste exactly the same as a cognac produced by that same company 50 years ago, or in 50 years' time. In this respect it may be seen to be similar to a blended whisky or non-vintage Champagne, which also rely on blending to achieve a consistent brand flavour.

Hundreds of vineyards in the Cognac AOC region sell their own cognac. These are likewise blended from the eaux-de-vie of different years, but they are single-vineyard cognacs, varying slightly from year to year and according to the taste of the producer, hence lacking some of the predictability of the better-known commercial products. Depending on their success in marketing, small producers may sell a larger or smaller proportion of their product to individual buyers, wine dealers, bars and restaurants, the remainder being acquired by larger cognac houses for blending. The success of artisanal cognacs (and of single malt whiskies) has impelled some larger producers to market single-vineyard cognacs from vineyards that they own.

[edit] Grades

Grades include:

VS (Very Special) or *** (three stars), where the youngest brandy is stored at least two years in cask.
VSOP (Very Superior Old Pale), Réserve, where the youngest brandy is stored at least four years in cask.
XO (Extra Old), Napoléon, Hors d'Age, where the youngest brandy is stored at least six years in cask.

Each cognac house also produces its own premium-level cognac. These include:

Extra by Camus is their premium cognac beyond XO containing their oldest cognacs from the Borderies, Grande Champagne and Petite Champagne regions in a distinctive decanter style bottle.
Louis XIII by Rémy Martin is composed of more than 1,200 of the finest eaux-de-vie aged between 40 years and a century in very old Limousin oak barrels.
Richard Hennessy - produced by Hennessy, 'Richard' is a blend of over 100 eaux-de-vie aged up to 200 years. It is sold in a Baccarrat crystal blackman and is named after the founder of the company.
L'Esprit de Courvoisier - Courvoisier's leading cognac, presented in a hand-cut Lalique decanter, blended from eaux-de-vie up to 200 years old, and individually numbered.
Moyet Antiques - Moyet's Très Vieille Fine Champagne and Très Vieille Grand Champagne cognacs blended from some barrels over 150 years old, individually numbered and signed by the cellar master.

[edit] Brands

Brands of cognac include:

Currently, only few vineyards in the area produce and sell 'cognac' made from organically-grown grapes. Their products have certification.

[edit] Cognac in Popular Culture

Since the early 1990s, cognac has seen a significant transformation in its American consumer base, from a predominately older, affluent white demographic to a younger, urban and significantly African-American crowd. The spirit has become ingrained in hip-hop culture, celebrated in songs by artists ranging from Tupac Shakur to Busta Rhymes to Lil Jon, among many others. It is estimated that between 60 and 80% of the American cognac market is African American, the majority of whom have indicated in studies that the endorsement of popular musical artists is a factor in their preference for the drink[1], which also spawned its nickname 'Yak' (or 'Yack'). Many have credited hip-hop culture as the savior of cognac; after nearly floundering in 1998 due to economic crisis in Asia - cognac's #1 market at the time - the cognac industry has seen its annual sales climb to approximately $1 billion in America by 2003[2], a growth paralleled by hip-hop's rise into the mainstream of American music.
On the TV show M*A*S*H, cognac is Major Winchester's beverage of choice.
In the recurring SNL sketch The Ladies' Man, Tim Meadows character Leon Phelps drinks Courvoisier Cognac on stage, and frequently ends the show by noting that time must be up because the Cognac is gone.
On the TV show Frasier, cognac is Frasier Crane's and his brother Niles Crane's drink of choice.

[edit] External links

cognac-world.com Informative page with constantly updated news about everything related to cognac.
BNIC Page of the Bureau National Interprofessionnel du Cognac, the authority guarding the manufacturing of all cognac.
cognacnet.com

[edit] Companies

Cognac is mainly sold by trading houses. Some of them were founded centuries ago, and still rule the market today.

[edit] Cognac-based drinks

Grand Marnier
List of cocktails
Pineau des Charentes: A sweet aperitif, composed of eau-de-vie and grape must, made in the Charente region

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