Cognac’s origins date all the way back to the 16th century. Dutch settlers came to Cognac, a French region, to buy wood, wine, and salt. However, a problem cropped up when it came to exporting the wine back home. The preservation method had to suit the length of the journey as well as the time it took to be sold and consumed later on. Seeing this, the settlers began preserving the wine by distilling it with eau-de-vie. While this method worked, the settlers realized that distilling it twice made for a much finer and tastier product. Thus, brandy was invented.
While brandy is made worldwide, only the brandy coming out of the six designated areas of France can be called cognac. The Cognac region itself covers two different regions in Western France — one is Charente-Maritime and the other is Charente. The six areas are divided according to the aging quality and potential. Some certain laws and measures must be abided by for a brandy to be labeled as cognac, and all such rules are controlled by the Bureau National Interprofessionnel du Cognac (BNIC). First and foremost, only specific types of grapes have to be used to make cognac, and one of the most common types of grapes to be used is called Ugni Blanc. Once the wine is made, it must be distilled in an ‘alambic charentais’, a copper pot with a boiler and serpentine condensation tube. Later on, the cognac will be fermented and stored in special French oak barrels for at least 30 months, although many wineries age the cognac for more than 30 months. The longer the cognac ferments, the more complexities and aromas it develops. Cognac’s age is determined through an unofficial grading system — for example, VS (Very Special) is aged for at least two years in oak, or Napoleon or XO (Extra Old) is aged for at least 10 years in oak.
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