Know your cognac
JOBURG - City Buzz had a chat with a master in the cognac industry, Vincent Chappe, and we now can tell you what constitutes a true cognac.
Chappe is president of the House of Bisquit Cognac.
South Africa has been importing cognac since the 19th century and since the turn of the 21st century has become a booming market for the sale of the drink.
Cognac is a type of brandy – a specifically aged and matured brandy – and it originated in the Cognac region of France.
According to Chappe, a true cognac is prepared in a very special way and in a very special place in order to be labelled as such. “Cognac is a brandy, but all brandies are not cognac,” said Chappe.
In order for the brandy to qualify as a cognac, it must adhere to the following rules:
- A specific type of grape must be grown within the Cognac region – maintaining a controlled origination area.
- The juices that are extracted from the grapes must be distilled twice, in specific copper pot stills.
- Thereafter, the distilled liquid must be aged for more than two years in French oak barrels exclusively from Tronçais or Limousin.
- For those of you city slickers who do enjoy the taste of Remy Martin, Hennessy, Martell and Bisquit, City Buzz will also let you in on which types of cognac you’re drinking.
The bottles labelled VS are ‘very special’ and these are the youngest brandies stored in the barrel for at least two years.
VSOP bottles are ‘very special old pale’ and these are stored in the barrel for at least four years.
Finally, the XO cognacs are ‘extra old’ and they are the oldest brandies which are stored for at least six years in the barrel.
