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The history of the appearance of cognac

Cognac - the largest city of the department Charentes wasa developed trade center for the sale of salt. Local wines were made for personal use and slightly for sale. The Dutch merchants, who sailed for salt, rasprobovav local drinks began to buy and export wine. Focusing on the emerging demand, the French are beginning to expand the vineyards and develop production. Due to the fact that the quality of the young wine was not at its best, during transportation the drink spoiled, peroxidized and was exhaled. Then the Dutch tried to cook "burnt wine" by distillation. The resulting wine alcohol easily tolerated transportation, did not lose fortresses and did not spoil. The ingenious Dutch hoped that upon arrival they would be able to restore wine by adding water to the distillate. To the great disappointment of the experimenters, they did not get the wine, however, the new form of alcohol suited them. The new drink began to be called brandwijn, and then brandy. The French quickly realized the profitability of the new product. In addition, the province has heavily raised tax on the export of wine. Winemakers designed the distillation cubes, perfected the technology and began to trade already the result of the distillation. In the 12th century, the industrialists found that when double distillation, a higher quality and pure wine spirit was obtained. Since then, the wine has been subjected to double distillation. And during one long voyage, alcohol stayed in oak barrels for a considerable time. When the beverage was poured from the barrels for sale, it was noticed that the liquid acquired a noble golden color and a particularly pleasant taste. Alcohol began to be consumed in its pure form. All the strong booze, brought from the French Charente, was called "cognac".

Modern production of cognac

Today's cognac production process is smalldiffers from the production of the XII century. Special requirements are imposed on grapes, from which cognac will be produced later. Berries of grape varieties of Ugni Blanc are considered to be the best raw material, the wine turns out to be very acidic, with a low sugar content. Harvesting is carried out mainly manually, in order to avoid deterioration of the quality of raw materials. When pressing grape juice, special presses are used. It is forbidden to squeeze the berries to dryness, otherwise grape seed oil may get into the liquid, which will significantly distort the taste of the drink. After fermentation, the wine obtained is subjected to primary distillation. They use a special Charente cube of special shape with a volume of 5 thousand liters. Secondary distillation is carried out in a boiler with a volume not exceeding 30 deciliters. The laws of cognac production require distillation to be carried out strictly on March 31. Thus, the countdown for any cognac begins on April 1. The initial cognac extract is made in baked oak barrels. Wood for packaging should only be from Limousin or Tronce forests. Cognac is aged in such barrels with a certain humidity and temperature not more than 5 years. Then it is poured into old barrels, where it gradually decreases in volume, reduces the strength, reaching 42-50 degrees. Experts determine the peak of aging and after that brandy is poured on glass containers, in which it can be stored for tens, or even hundreds of years. To obtain a certain brand of beverage, cognac is blended - mixed with certain types of alcohol. To achieve a certain strength of alcohol, if the brandy spirit is too strong, add distilled water. The addition of caramel and sugar is officially permitted, but the famous cognac houses are proud to not use such "tricks".