How to make Cognac

Appropriately, at Christmas we often visualise the elderly gentleman lowering his nose into a large balloon glass containing a brown liquid, presumably cognac. While endowing brandy with a certain social status, the image is misleading. Cognacs, especially those which we understand to be of a high enough quality, are to be savoured. Even the most [...]

During the late 19th century it became an aristocratic tradition to supply cognacs that had aged in damp cellars for many years, rather like those from Delamain and Hine, companies that had produced some fine old cognacs.
However, during the last century the Chinese had started to develop a liking for dark sweet cognacs and the [...]

Storing cognacs may sound a rather easy process of placing old barrels on their sides in cellars  (Chais), in neat rows and often about three high, for as long as it takes to mature. This rather simplistic view is indeed the essence of the process, but there are many more complex limitations to consider. It [...]

Cognac must be distilled between the range of 67–72 degrees and many producers will try and get it to the higher end of the range to maximise on the purity of the distillate. Whatever the strength of the vapours, the temperature is quite likely to be very hot and the vapour will rise quickly from [...]

The vast majority of distillers in the cognac region are bouilleurs de cru, distillers who grow their own grapes, rather than the bouilleurs de profession, distillers whose sole purpose is to distil the wines for growers and merchants. There are probably nearly a thousand of the former group who sell their brandies under their own [...]

To visit the Charente in October is one of the most exciting periods of the whole of the Cognac season. There is a huge sense of anticipation - vats and stills are being cleaned, machinery is being serviced and viticulturists are checking the acidity and sugar levels in the grapes. They are also making final [...]

Legally the Cognaçais can use a number of grape varieties, although the choice is largely theoretical. The Ugni Blanc accounts for over 90% of the total area, with the rest being Folle Blanche and Colombard. Cognacs rise to fame was based on two varieties - the Folle (later known as the Folle Blanche), and the [...]

Finding a more suitable position to make cognac is impossible, since the combination of climate, soil and position creates that lovely French Term, “Terroir”, to which we have no singular description that encompasses such a wide term. The cognac region is in the northern end of the Langue d’Oc, midway between the Bay of Biscay [...]

At Brandyclassics we believe very much in education - without it the industry will fail to pass on the benefits of knowledge about potentially most important area of the end customer service. Brandy is important because it creates an opportunity to extend our knowledge of wines. Those who have read our previous notes will understand [...]

One of the truly great names in cognac died in May 2005. Jacques Hardy of A. Hardy Cognacs died in hospital after a short illness, he was 83.
The firm of Hardy was one of the last totally independent cognac houses of stature recognised throughout the industry and his collection of early vintage and pre-phylloxera [...]