If in case you have a style for historical past, the pint-sized city of Cognac, with its royal citadel and well-known distilleries, will fulfill your soul, says Janine Marsh.
My dad used to say that the traditional gods would drink a small glass of Cognac after they completed feasting and wanted to finish with one thing particular. And my dad wasn’t alone in his opinion. The nice French author Victor Hugo additionally declared, ‘Cognac is the liquor of the gods.’
So what’s it about Cognac that makes it not simply match for celestial beings however one of many world’s most prestigious drinks? I headed to Cognac, deep within the superb countryside of Charente, southwest France, to discover a captivating world during which moist canine, moist cellars and angels have one thing in widespread and the place a drop of the good things may set you again per week’s wages!
Cognac – the city
Cognac lies round 30 miles inland from the Atlantic coast port of La Rochelle and roughly the identical distance from Bordeaux. It’s a categorised city of ‘Artwork and Historical past.’ The previous district has a village ambiance, criss-crossed by hilly cobbled streets lined with retailers, bars and medieval buildings, dominated by a formidable-looking citadel. It’s right here that France’s Renaissance King, Francois I, was born in 1494, some 50 years earlier than the drink named after the city was invented, although his former house is now a distillery.
Cognac the liquor of the Gods
Some say that the city’s most well-known export was born within the fifteenth century when canny wine retailers distilled their product to save lots of freight costs on wine exports to England and Holland – simply add water, they reasoned – on the spot wine! However the reality is that Dutch merchants turned to distillation to protect the wine for the lengthy journey residence. They referred to as it brandwijn, burnt wine, and the time period finally turned brandy.
These early Dutch merchants could have invented the method, however native French winemakers took the primitive distillation course of additional, perfecting the double distillation methodology, leading to a divine eau de vie.
What’s the distinction between brandy and Cognac
So, what’s the distinction between brandy and Cognac? Prime producer Remy Martin says it’s all right down to “organoleptic complexity and fragrant finesse” and that “all Cognac may be thought-about as brandy, however not all brandy is Cognac.” Mainly, Cognac is all the time made with grapes, not different fruits like some brandies. It has a really particular distillation, and manufacturing is contained inside a small, protected space.
The Cognac/brandy distinction is just about alongside the identical strains as “not all glowing wines are champagne.” However not like champagne, the place the grasp blender is the important thing to making sure high quality, with Cognac, the Maitre de Chai – the cellar grasp – is the important thing to the drink’s distinctive aromas and style, mixing, refining and maturing every treasured drop to provide VS, VSOP and XO Cognac (see backside of article for an exaplanation).
Cognac – savoir-faire in a bottle
A number of museums in Cognac are devoted to the amber nectar, together with the newly opened Remy Martin Historic Home, which opened in 2024 to rejoice the corporate’s three centuries of manufacturing. Right here, you possibly can tour the home and cellars, the place you’ll spot secret codes on barrels that solely the cellar masters perceive. Their excursions embody tastings and a cocktail masterclass, and even an initiation into Remy Martin’s prestigious Louis XIII Cognac – which is all the time served at state banquets in France, or head to their vineyards and estates in Grand Champagne for excursions together with a Petit practice experience by the vines.
Discover out extra and e-book a tour at: remymartin.com
The city has a number of well-known identify producers, with glitzy domains and cellars full of liquid gold. A good time to go is outdoors of the height summer time months: autumn, when the leaves on the vines flip to gold; winter, when nothing beats a seat by a hearth in a comfortable bar as you gently swirl your glass of Cognac; and spring when the air begins to heat up, and the treasured vines begin sprouting new leaves and teeny-tiny grapes.
Top-of-the-line locations to take pleasure in a snifter is on the 5* resort Chais Monnet & Spa in what was Maison Monnet – the Nineteenth-century warehouse of one of many space’s most outstanding Cognac producers. Now remodeled into a chic, luxurious resort, with two eating places, the Michelin-starred Les Foudres, bistronomique La Distillerie, plus Café Angelique and a summer time rooftop bar – there’s additionally the legendary 1838 Bar. Housed within the former cooperage, the décor made me assume that if Harry Potter was grown up and in search of a bar with loads of magic, this might be it. Darkish wooden, comfortable chairs, an air of historical past, and 300 Cognacs to select from. Unmissable.
Particulars: chaismonnethotel.com
Angels, moist cellars and moist canine
The Cognac area has six distinct rising areas: Grande Champagne, Petite Champagne, Borderies, Fins Bois, Bons Bois, and Bois Ordinaires, and though the identical grape is grown throughout all areas – Ugni blanc – the terroir, the rising circumstances from soil to climate, is kind of totally different and produces a distinction within the style of the Cognac.
I headed to the Grand Champagne vineyards to seek out out extra – Champagne on this occasion, referring to not the glowing wine however ‘campagne’, the French phrase for the countryside. The village of Ségonzac, within the coronary heart of this space, is residence to Area Frapin, 21 generations of winemakers and distillers. Based within the 12th century, the Frapin household have of their household tree one Francois Rabelais (born circa 1483), the well-known medieval creator and son of Anne-Catherine Frapin and Antoine Rabelais. The Frapin emblem displays their illustrious ancestor – a feather representing Rabelais’s quill.
My morning tour with information Thomas included a number of cellars, the place I realized the distinction between a moist and a dry cellar, it’s all in regards to the evaporation price of the alcohol within the barrels, often known as the ‘angels’ share (as much as 3% of the liquid), which is represented by a black fungus that creeps over the partitions. Moist cellars imply extra evaporation of alcohol making a mellow, softer style; dry cellars create extra evaporation of water leaving a spicy, intense end. This was adopted by a tasting session 11 a.m. (apparently, that is one of the best time—as a result of you have got a recent palette).
“Sniff and say the very first thing that comes into your head,” Thomas urged. “Erm, earthy?“ I supplied, incomes a smile. “Shut,” mentioned Thomas, “moist canine. It smells like a moist canine!”
In fact, that’s not all it smells of – in any case, this can be a premium cognac we’re snuffling, however deep contained in the aroma is, Thomas assures me, a whiff of moist canine. And what’s extra, this can be a good factor “very distinctive, a sign of age and the way the Cognac has developed over time.”
Later, cellars grasp Patrice Piveteau explains that Cognac is a sensory expertise. “What do you odor?” he says, passing me a glass of Frapin VSOP. “Melon?” I recommend. “Candied peel,” he says, “not simply melon. It’s by no means simply orange or clementine; it’s spicy, fragrant notes of orange.“
“Cognac is sort of like a condiment. It goes completely with cheese, not too robust although, perhaps stilton or mature comté. Attempt it with Roquefort – blended with slightly salty butter,” he kissed the air on the thought. “It’s basic to serve it at room temperature – however you possibly can chill it too! Maintain it at 20 levels for a number of days after which pour. The style sensation explodes in your mouth.”
My tasting tour included a cocktail within the beautiful Chateau and a drop of their premium Cuvée Rabelais, which, at a shade below €10,000 per bottle, is certainly a tipple worthy of gods and goddesses.
Discover particulars of all their excursions and extra info at cognac-frapin.com/en
The Cognac hunters
Cognac is, to some, what gold is to others. And at Maison Grosperrin in Saintes, you possibly can take a tour to find out how a small group of Cognac specialists ‘hunt’ for treasured Cognac barrels left for many years within the cellars of farmhouses or aged within the sea, uncommon and distinctive vessels which might be coveted by connoisseurs world wide. Their fascinating excursions clarify the secrets and techniques of ageing and anecdotes in regards to the origins of the barrels of Cognac of their cellar, and embody a tasting of a number of the most exceptional and uncommon Cognacs on the earth.
Discover out extra and e-book a tour: cognac-grosperrin.com/en
The place to remain
The Quai des Pontis Resort within the centre of Cognac, on the banks of the River Charente, has oodles of appeal.
Discover out extra: Vacationer workplace explore-cognac.com
Get there: There are direct flights to Bordeaux and La Rochelle from the UK.
Trains from Paris take from 2h 41m.
7 fascinating info about Cognac
- Chestnut wooden bands are mounted across the cognac barrels to draw spiders that will in any other case hurt the oak barrels.
- Barrels should be constructed from a selected sort of oak from Limousin or Allier’s forests, creating a particular golden color.
- Remy Martin created a miniature bottle for house travellers (although it’s not but been examined).
- Classic casks of Cognac have wax seals utilized by the Nationwide Workplace of Cognac.
- Napoleon Bonaparte gave Cognac to his troops to raise their morale.
- A whopping 95% of Cognac produced in France is exported – America is the most important market, boosted by advertising and marketing offers with rappers.
- It takes 10 litres of white wine to make one litre of Cognac.
What does the VS imply on bottles of Cognac?
VS : Very Particular – aged for at the least two years.
VSOP : Very Superior Outdated Pale – aged for at the least 4 years.
XO : Additional Outdated – aged for at the least six years.
Janine Marsh is the creator of a number of internationally best-selling books about France. Her newest e-book How you can be French – a celebration of the French life-style and artwork de vivre, is out now – a have a look at the French lifestyle. Discover all books on her web site janinemarsh.com
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