Cognac, an ancient city on the bank of the river Charente it is the capital of brandy production.  Golden hillsides are carpeted with vines overlooking sleepy villages with Romanesque churches, humpback bridges, mills and beautiful countryside.

Warmed in a brandy glass in a cupped hand, cognac is generally drunk at the end of a meal.  However it is becoming increasingly common to serve it as an aperitif, often mixed with a soda of some king.

The ‘liquor of gods’, as author Victor Hugo called it, owes its outstanding character to the warm, humid climate and the oil in this region of Western France.  The vineyards are to be found in Charente and Charente-Maritime.  The production is spread out around Cognac in concentric circles- Grande Champagne, Petite Champagne, Borderies, Fins Bois, Bons Bois and Bois Ordinaries.
Cognac is produced by blending several wines, each with its own flavour, specific bouquet and ability to age.  The greatest care is taken in blending and it is the harmonious blends created by the Master of the Cellar in the large cognac houses or by individual distillers, which are left to age in oak cask where they gradually mature, developing their bouquet and beautiful amber colour.

Leading Cognac Producers

In cognac, Jamac or Rouillas, leading cognace producers such as
Camus
Hennessy
Martell
Otard
Renault-Bisquit
Louis-Royer
Remy-Martin
Courvoisier

They offer guide tours explaining the production processes used to make cognac.  The tours inclue a visit to the distillation area, cellars, bottling shops and sometimes, the estate itself.  Most have an audiovisual presentation and a tasting session.  You can, of course buy bottles while you are there.

The “Cognac road”.
Les étapes du Cognac is an association, which brings together more than one hundred members connected in some way or other with Cognac, Pineau des Charentes and the various products from wine producing.
 Visitors can stop at small producers’ on the road whenever they want!  

There are six trails to explore cognac vineyards:

1 The town of Cognac,
 2 Cognac and the vine,
3 Cognac and the river,
4 Cognac and stone,
5 Cognac and traditions,
6 Cognac, stone and estuary.



Cognac Museum (Musée des Arts du Cognac)

An exhibition highlighting all the skills involved in producing Cognac: distilling, related industries (glassmaking, prestige packaging, printing, boxes), impressive collection of 25,000 labels, posters and other items linked to cognac.



L’Espace Découverte en Pays du Cognac (Visitors’ Centre)
An exhibition describes the area around Cognac, with the River Charente as the link between the various sections of the exhibition. Slide presentations of local architecture, countryside, heritage, history of the river, river barges etc.



The first Cognac tasting school.
Virginie Lemoine created this first Cognac tasting school and here you can learn how to understand and appreciate the “liquor of Gods”.
Also in Cognac, with this tasting school, you can visit of many of the different cognac houses. Amateur and aficionado alike will get great benefit and acquire more knowledge about the world of cognac.