2000 years of Cognac

Cognac dates back over 2,000 years ago, and was probably named after a pre-Roman chieftain called Comnos or Conos. At that time it was the Romans first brought vines to France. Romans also discovered the secret of sealing wines in amphorae to mature and preserve them. By the time they left 500 years later they had laid the foundation for almost all the greatest vineyards in the modern world.

For centuries later France continued to produce wine, considered a gift from gods. As trading expanded, the delicate wines couldn’t cope with rough and long journeys by the sea.

In order to transport the wine in better conditions, traders began to distill wine. Arnaud de Villeneuve (Catalonia, Spain) is reported to have distilled wine as early as 1250. It may also have been produced as early as 1100 in Dalerno. The Dutch called this new spirit brandewijnm, literally burnt wine. And that’s where the term brandy comes from.

Some commercial distilled –wine beverages apparently began to be produced in Armagnac in the mid-1400s. Cognac region’s brandewijn was distinct from that produced by other regions and so came to be called by its new name - Cognac.

Brandy production in Cognac started in the early 1600s. The brandies produced in Cognac have a long-standing and universal reputation for their elegance and refinement and are often symbols of status and prestige.
2000 years of Cognac

History of Cognac

Cognac is distilled from the grape derived from the grape of the ugni vines planted in a wide radius around the town of Cognac on the Charente, in southwestern France.

Medieval Cognac was a prosperous, fortified river port for the salt and wine trade.

By the 17th and 18th century, many people with family ties in England and Holland had fled to the area, keeping wine trade with northern Europe alive as the salt trade petered out.

The soil of Charente produces poor-quality wines. In the 17th century it was accidently discovered that when distilled they produced excellence brandy.

The term cognac is widely used, but properly refers only to distillation from a fairly small district around the towns Cognac on the Charente River.

Once called ‘liqueur of gods’, cognac comes from double distillation, and receives a lot of attention.

Cognacs have a widely varied style. Some are light and ethereal; some are dark and heavy, tasting of caramel. Each Cognac producer guards the secrets that make possible his distinctive blend.

The major cognac houses, like Hennessey, Martell, Courvoisier, Remy Martin or Hine, have become household names.
History of Cognac