SPIRITS: Cognac Flashcards
Cognac’s “Big Four” + top bottlings
- Hennessy: est 1765. Paradis
- Rémy Martin: est 1724. Louis XIII
- Martell: est 1715. l’Or // not top but… XO Cordon Bleu
- Courvoisier: est 1809 as trading co in Paris; relocated to Cognac in 1823. Owns no vines. Courvoisier XO
Cognac climate
Maritime - Atlantic influence aids long oak aging
Cognac’s River
- flood years?
Charente River: a tidal river; shallow in summer, floods in winter
1982, 2023 - 2024: 3 smaller floods + 1 major one
[Charente’s shallow summer levels called for flat-bottomed boats. Cargo from Atlantic would have to change boats here - enabling Cognac as an important place of commerce]
Name for Cognac cellars? for distiller/blender?
Chai
Maître de Chai
Cognac Regions (6)
- soil types?
- most planted?
- Grande Champagne: chalk
- Petite Champagne: chalk
- Borderies: groies - Jurrasic chalk + clay mix
- Fin Bois: clay/limestone + chalk
- Bons Bois: diverse - sand, clay, chalk etc
- Bois Ordinaires: thin sand
79,231ha total - Fin Bois is most planted with 34.2k. Petite Champagne #2 with 16.6k. Grande #3 with 14k
Cognac’s required % for region labelling?
100%
Term for Cognac from 50%+ Grande Champagne + Petite Champagne
Fine Champagne
Fine Champagne - what is it?
Cognac from min. 50% Grande Champagne + Petite Champagne, entirely
Preferred soil type for Cognac? Why?
Chalk - Grande Champagne, Petite Champagne
- good drainage while retaining moisture
- chalk soils tend to produce more acidic grapes
Usage of term “Premier Cru du Cognac”
Unofficial/unregulated; used for Grande Champagne Cognac
1st distillation in Cognac?
Early 1500’s
[Cognac made still wine previously; 1st written mention of a distillate was in 1517 shipping a barrel of barrique d’eau ardente]
Phylloxera in Cognac & effects
1872 arrival
[Cognac had 285k ha of vineyard in 1878. Reduced to 41k by 1890. 1st generation of rootstock didn’t like the chalk so recovery was slow. Folle Blanche didn’t like rootstock - allowing Ugni Blanc to take over]
This led to non-Cognac labelled as Cognac - which led to legislation of 1909 protecting name
“Early Landed” Cognac
Comes from the phrase “early landed, late bottled”. Cognac that is partially aged in the AC but shipped in barrel to another country to continue aging/be bottled (historically England)
*a common historic practice, although Hine (and sometimes Delamain) is the only player doing it now in significant capacity. Cognac must age at least 2 years in the AC then can depart to wherever
Cognac grapes (6)
Ugni Blanc (98% of plantings)
Folle Blanche
Colombard
Montils
Semillon
MAX 10% Folignan (folle blanche x Ugni Blanc)
[Folle Blanche was preferred pre-phylloxera. Didn’t take well to rootstock, letting Ugni Blanc in. Low alcohol, high acidity is key for a good distillate]
2 types of Cognac distillers
- Bouillieur du Profession: professional distillers
- Bouilleur de Cru: grower-producers / recoltant-manipulant style
Cognac distillation process
- type
- # of distillations & names
- max ABV of final distillation
Two distillations in Alembic charentais (pot still)
1. Première Chauffe: turns base wine into brouillis, which is 26 - 32%. 12 hr process.
2. Bonne Chauffe: to final strength. 14hrs.. 25hl of brouillis yields 7hl brandy. 1st portion (têtes) is impure and set aside; 2nd portion runs from ~78% to 60% is the coeur. Secondes and Queues come next - might be saved to re-distill
Max ABV = 73.7%
Cognac distillition process - describe process from base wine to final distillation
- Base wine loads into cucurbite heated over open flame
- fumes rise into chapiteau, onion-typed thing on top of cucurbite. Heated fumes rise through into condenser. Size matters - usually 1/10th of still volume. Too large = neutral brandy
- vapors move through bec / col de cygne. (OPTIONAL - Martell doesn’t use it) to move through Chauffe-vin - warm vapors preheat wine for the cucurbite. After, moves into serpentin which cools via water to condense vapors into brouillis before draining into barrel.
- Once enough brouillis is collected, the entire process is repeated for the bonne chauffe - to produce young, unaged Cognac
Benefits of using a copper still
- excellent conductor of heat
- unlikely to be damaged by fire or acidic material
- reacts with many undesirable copper compounds - eliminating them from the final product
- “fixes” fatty acids in wines - creates a hazy solid that can be filtered out after 1st distillation
Required method to heat Cognac stills?
Open flame
rimé = burnt flavor from uneven heating
[natural gas is method du jour and has allowed still sizes to increase to 25hl. Wood was historically used, then coal. Natural gas arrived in late 20th century]
Cognac oak
- size
- type/source
French - 270 to 450L; most are 350L
- Tronçais (mostly sessile): Extremely fine grain, tannins no easily extracted.
- Limousin (mostly pedunculate): preferred oak. wider grain = more air, more tannin extraction Not great for cheaper Cognac, but great for long-aging brandies
Cognac aging relationship with humidity
Cognac’s chais are located on Charente River to take advantage of humidity.
- more humidity = more alcohol evaporation in the angel share without loss of aromatics
- less humidity = more water evaporation in the angel share
~2% volume is lost each year per barrel
Name for the heart of the Cognac chai?
Paradis - this is where the best barrels and bonbonnes are stored
Cognac VS, *** - age?
min. 2 years for youngest brandy in blend
[
Cognac VSOP (Reserve, Rare, Royal) - age?
min. 4 years for youngest brandy in blend
Cognac XO - age? other names?
Min. 10 years (for youngest brandy in blend)
Hors d’Age, Extra, Ancestral
Cognac XXO - age?
14 years (for youngest brandy in blend)
Cognac final ABV
40% or higher
- adjusted with demineralized water or petite eaux, a watered down brandy to avoid shocking the brandy
[73.7% is max average ABV of bonne chauffe]
Cognac minimum age
April 1 of 2nd year after harvest
Name 3 terms that could be used to indicate a Cognac is at least 10 years old?
XO
Hors d’Age
Imperial
Extra
Ancestral
Ancêtre
3 terms that would indicate a Cognac is at least 4 years old?
VSOP
Réserve
Vieux
Rare
Reserve Royal
3 terms that would indicate a Cognac is at least 5 years old?
Vieille Réserve
Réserve Rare
Reserve Royale
3 terms that would indicate a Cognac is at least 6 years old?
Napoleon
Trés Vieille Reserve
Tres Vieux Heritage
Tres Rare
Excellence
Supreme
What is the preferred serving glass for Cognac? What is the ideal temperature?
Tulip glass
64º F
Pineau des Charentes AOP
- ABV
- styles
- fortified with?
Vin de Liqueur // Mistelle
- ABV: 16 - 22%
- fortified with Cognac of at least 60% ABV
- Blanc, Rosé and Red
