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Very Superior Old

Designation (also Very Special Old, VSO) of the maturation period or quality for a brandy; see under Cognac.

Probably the most famous brandy in the world is named after the town of the same name in the Charente department just north of Bordeaux in south-west France near the Atlantic coast. When the Roman general Julius Caesar (100-44 BC) conquered Gaul, his legionnaires allegedly brought the Trebbiano grape from their homeland, which later became the main grape variety for Cognac. According to legend, the name of the Cognac region goes back to the Roman general Comnus. In the 12th century, spriting, the process of preserving wine by adding ethyl alcohol, was introduced. It also emerged that wine from the Cognac region was particularly suitable for distilling. Around 1530, the Dutch introduced the art of distillation to this region, calling the wine distillates "Brandewijn", from which the English term brandy was derived. At that time, it was customary to produce distillates by distilling them once, as is still the case today with Armagnac.

Cognac - Rebflächen im Département Charente mit Ugni Blanc (Trebbiano Toscano)

Invention of cognac

According to legend, the invention of cognac through double distillation is attributed to the Chevalier de la Croix Maron, Seigneur de Segonzac (ancestor of the cognac-producing Castelbajac family) at the end of the 16th century. The deeply religious knight is said to have dreamt that the devil wanted to steal his soul by burning it out in a cauldron. However, thanks to his unshakeable faith, he survived the ordeal unscathed. A second attempt by the devil to distil the spirit was also unsuccessful, so the knight had the idea of extracting the spirit's soul with a second distillation. The new drink quickly caught on, and the Dutchman Augustin Godet was the first to receive state authorisation to export cognac. A certain Jean Martell settled in Cognac in 1715 and produced brandy, followed by Richard Hennessy and others who are still among the most renowned brands today.

Region of origin and grape varieties

Phylloxera arrived in the region around 1870 and destroyed many vineyards in the Charente. The current vineyard area of around 75,000 hectares is only a third of what it was back then. The basis for 90% of Cognac production is mainly Saint-Émilion/Ugni Blanc (Trebbiano Toscano), as well as Colombard and, to a lesser extent, Folle Blanche. In 2005, the new Folignan variety was also authorised with a maximum of 10% of the vineyard area per estate. As early as 1860, the French geologist Henri Coquand (1813-1881) and a professional brandy taster were commissioned to categorise the region in terms of quality. However, it was not until...

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