Louis XIV, often known as the Sun King, expanded the French colonies allowing trade to develop. Art and literature increased greatly but for many of his people these were bad times, due largely to wars, poverty and crippling levies and taxes. A further difficulty was to make life even harder in the seventeenth century in that Europe experienced severe climate changes, a period that was to become known as the little Ice Age. In Normandy wine producers suffered greatly and most pulled up their vines which had died due to the severe frosts and disease. This proved to be a… Read more

France and particularly Normandy was ravaged by battles and desolation from the mid fourteenth century right through to the nineteenth century. The Black Death killed millions of people and the climate was turning colder. Farmers were ruined and people had to carefully store their food for the winter months, but apples provided the perfect food. Different varieties would fruit at different times, they could be dried and better still, ciders were made and stored.  At the beginning of this period there were more than three hundred varieties of apples. The port of Cherbourg became important and was a regular trading post… Read more

We see apples today as very much part of our stable diet and thousands of varieties are available in the shops. In all probability these varieties have developed from the basic fruits cultivated by the Romans. Agronomists who lived in the third century BC talk of seven varieties and Pliny in the first century AD talks of 36 varieties. However many different apples there were, cross fertilisation has developed and greatly improved the fruits over the years into a fruit we enjoy to eat. Of course all this is fine if that is what we are going to do, simply… Read more

The apple is probably one of the oldest fruits known to man and belongs to the rose family probably easier to see by studying the rose like flower of the tree. It is believed that the ancestors of the apple originated from a tree still found wild in Kazakhstan between the Caspian and the Black Sea. The Pear belongs to the same family as the apple, the ancestor of the cider pear is the “poirasse”, found in the wild forests in the west of France. The lush valleys of Seine and Eure were home to some of the first humans,… Read more

Throughout history apples have been closely related to Normandy, the large section of coast facing north across the English Chanel stretching from Cherbourg in the west to Rouen in the east and encompassing five departments, Manche, Calvados, Orne, Eure and Seine Maritime covering thousands of square kilometres. Of course the area is famous for its coast and the pastures and farmlands like the Bocage with its gentle hills and hedgerows. The coastal Cliffs of Etretat and further along towards the peninsulas of Manche and Cotentin are of course the famous areas of the D Day landings, where the sea has… Read more

It is probably appropriate that in looking at the finest and great cognac houses that we should start with what is claimed to be the oldest cognac firm, that of Augier Freres & Co, established in 1643. However, all that can be said with any certainty was that an Augier was already in business in the 1680’s. Another house called Ransons was said to have been in dispute with Augier over a brandy monopoly in 1604 but Ranson, later to become Ransons Delamain had worked with Augier in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Other early names included Richard,… Read more

The Good & Great Cognac Houses Camus is said to be Cognacs fifth largest producer  and the biggest still in the hands of an individual family. Nearly 90% of all it’s sales are outside France and much goes to the duty free markets. The firm was founded in 1863 by a consortium of growers headed by Jean-Baptist Camus who added his name to that of the group before his death in 1898. Camus depended largely on sales to Russia during the 19th century and was the exclusive supplier to the Tsar where sales were in barrels. The Russian revolution put… Read more

Certainly not one of the biggest houses, but this delightful chateau which is situated close to the Gironde has to be one of the prettiest and certainly one of the best, albeit in a part of the Charente not associated with fine cognacs. The firm which is situated at Saint-Dizant-du-Gua sits on a particularly fine strata of chalk which allows the vine roots to penetrate deep. Beaulon claims to have records dating back to 1712 when references to grape distillation appear but the Chateau is even older dating from 1480 in the reign of King Louis XI, the de Beaulon family… Read more

The firm was founded in 1805 and probably has one of the most intriguing histories of all the old houses. The Croizet family have been growing grapes since the 17th century and has always been important. Léon Croizet was awarded the Legion d’Honneur for the part he played in helping to replant the vineyards after the Phylloxera. He went to America and found resistant root stock onto which all modern cognac vines are now grafted. In 1892 a Mlle Croizet married a M Eymard (the reserve des Héritiers still carries the wedding photograph), the firm was run by Eymards  from… Read more

Perhaps this is one of cognac’s little gems or maybe just lucky to have found a slice of land that is both ideal for their needs and of sufficient size to make adequate wines for their needs. The Vallet family who run this rather modern looking Chateau are now in their sixth generation, the vineyard was created by Augustin Vallet in 1837 and over the years he has been succeeded by Pierre, Maurice, Louis and Michel. In 2000 Laurent Vallet has joined his father as the sixth generation to run this fine house. The firm is situated in Petite Champagne… Read more