Brandy Education

Here at Brandyclassics we have often spoken lovingly about the benefits of long ageing. It is a pre-requisite of very fine cognac and there is certainly no substitute that will enhance the flavour.
So how is it possible to create a new cognac, given that it needs so long to age in the barrel? We have [...]

Spanish Brandy has a longer history than cognac; it is more varied and in some ways more intriguing. Most Spanish Brandy should be called Brandy de Jerez because they are distilled and sold by the firms that make sherry. Brandy making in Spain goes back to the early Middle Ages when the Moors occupied southern [...]

The geology of the cognac producing region is the single most important factor in the success of the famous drink. The spirits success rests solidly on chalk - a very special sort of chalk known as Campanian chalk, named after the Latin original of the word. This became known as Champagne and exists under most [...]

Professor Louis Ravaz was the young professor who established the Station Viticole in Cognac and did much to re-establish the new vines after the Phylloxera around 1890, his definition of the Charente terroir is usefully described thus:
“The same variety of grape can be grown anywhere and in the same way as in the Charente: distillation [...]

The Ugni Blanc is the main grape variety planted in the Cognac region. More than 95% of all cognacs are made from this plain and rather tasteless variety, which was first planted after the Phylloxera around 1890.
The variety triumphed and was a huge success, producing weak acidic wines in large volumes. The grape is probably [...]

Perhaps the most confusing aspect facing shoppers seeking a decent bottle of cognac is the use of generic terms such as VS, VSOP and XO. The big cognac houses such as Hennessy, Martel, Courvoisier and others use these to describe their highly blended cognacs. These big negoçiants buy their cognacs from around 5000 small producers [...]

There are 135 official mountain rescue dogs in the Swiss canton of Valais. The St Bernard story began in the year 962 when Bernard of Menthon founded a monastery and hospice in the Swiss Alps. The monastery, situated at 8000 ft was on a route over the Alps from France to Italy and in a [...]