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Article: Cognac:-Regions-and-Legal-Definitions
by David Richards
The region of cognac, is divided up into six growth areas or crus, covers the department of Charente-Maritime which is a large part of the Charente and a few areas in Deux-Sčvres and the Dordogne. The six crus are these (in order of decreasing appreciation) of the cognacs coming from them: Grande Champagne, Petite Champagne, Borderies, Fins Bois, Bons Bois, and Bois Ordinaires.
A cognac made from the first two of these areas with at least 50% from Grande Champagne is called "Fine Champagne" cognac. This is actually striking because no cognac has anything to do with the sparkling wine Champagne.
If a cognac is produced that fails to meet any of the strict criteria set down by the "governing body" of cognac, the BNIC – Bureau National Interprofessionel du cognac it may not be called cognac, nor sold as such.
Process of fabrication
Cognac is produced from eaux-de-vie (literally, "water of life") produced by two distilling processes with the white wines produced in any of the growth areas. The wine is a very dry, acidic, thin wine and generally is not for drinking but excellent for distillation. Cognac must only be made from a list of grape varieties. Distillation takes place in traditionally shaped Charentais copper stills, where the actual design and dimensions of are also controlled by law. Two distillations must be carried out and; the resulting eau-de-vie is a colorless spirit of about 70% alcohol.
This cognac may not be sold to the public. Only the Cognac that has been aged for at least 2 years, counting from the end of the period of distillation, 1 April following the year the grapes were harvested, can be sold to the public.
During the aging process, a large percentage of the alcohol and water in the eaux-de-vie evaporates through the porous oak barrels. This is locally called the "part des anges", or angels share, a phrase commonly used in Scotch Whisky distilling. The final product is diluted to 40% alcohol content.
The age of the cognac shown is that of the youngest eau-de-vie used in the blend process. The blend is commonly of different ages and from different areas. This blending or also called marriage of different eaux-de-vie is vital to get a mixture of flavors that would not happen if only 1 eau-de-vie would be used in the distillation.
Every cognac house has a master taster who is responsible for the mixture of this delicate blend of raw materials. This is done so that the cognac produced by a single company today will taste exactly the same as a cognac produced by that same company in the past. This is the same idea with the blending of whisky or non-vintage Champagne, which also use blending to achieve a consistent brand flavor.
David Richards is a long time spirit enthusiast. He has a site called Products from Spain.net where different of beverages are offered.
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