Category: How to make Cognac

Most people regard the Ugni Blanc as the cognac grape variety but there are in fact 8 different varieties allowed in the production of cognac.  The Ugni Blanc is also known as the St Emillion des Charente, but the Colombard,Read more

Having spent a very cold weekend in the garden pruning trees, shrubs and roses, I gave some thought to those people who have to be in the cognac vineyards at this time of the year pruning the vines. In theory,Read more

As the New Year rolls in the cognac distillers will be checking the ‘chais’ (cellars) and their existing stocks of cognac in barrels from previous years.  Of course there are hundreds of old cellars all over the Cognac region, eachRead more

The other day, I was talking to a barman in a hotel and he, like so many other people, wanted to know “what is the difference between brandy and cognac?” Certainly in the trade we all assume that we knowRead more

White Cognac from Coal The pressure on cognac houses in the early noughties to sell greater quantities inspired some to try and produce a white or clear cognac. Of course this should not be possible as cognac must be agedRead more

Longer days and lazy evenings are what we are all looking forward to now that British Summer Time has begun. This time of year also marks the end of the cognac distillation process for last summer’s harvest – strict regulationsRead more

The prosperity from the trade with Britain in the late 1800s was sadly doomed as production rose even faster than consumption. Thousands of acres were planted with vines to supply the anticipated surge in sales.  This threatened overproduction was however,Read more

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 weRead more

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 theRead more

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 indeedRead more