Сельское хозяйство / 4.Технологии хранения и переработки сельскохозяйственной продукции.

I. M. Dovgun

V. Yakymchuk

National University of Food Technologies, Kyiv, Ukraine

Cognac: Its History and Production

The origin of Cognac dates back to the 16th century when Dutch settlers came to this French region to buy salt, wood, and wine and other goods. However, the journey back home made preserving the wine difficult and they needed to find a better way to conserve it. They started by distilling the wine into eau-de-vie, which was a good solution to preserve it, but eventually they realized a second distillation made for an even finer, more elegant and pleasant product. This is essentially the birth of brandy. In fact, the word “brandy” comes from the Dutch word “brandewijn” which means burnt wine.

Brandy is made all over the world, but only brandy made in the Cognac region of France and under the strictest guidelines, can be called “Cognac.” The Cognac region stretches over two regions in western France, Charente-Maritime (bordering the Atlantic Ocean) and Charente (a little further inland). There are six growth areas designated for producing Cognac. They are as follows: Grand Champagne, Petite Champagne, Borderies, Fins Bois, Bons Bois, and Bois Ordinaires.

The process of making Cognac starts out with the pressing of the white grapes in a pneumatic press to receive grape juice followed by a 10 day fermentation period. The resulting white wine is highly acidic and very fruity with low alcohol (8–10º) content. This is an ideal canvas for creating a fine Cognac. The goal of distillation is to select and concentrate the aroma and bouquet contained in the wine. Distillation is done by heating the wine, a process of delicately separating alcohol and other volatile components from the organic, non-volatile components of the wine.

Distillation of Cognac can only be done in an “alambic charentais”, the pot still in use in this region for the past 400 years. It is made of copper, and is mainly composed of a boiler, an onion-shaped head, a swan’s neck, and a condensing serpentine plunged in a water tank. Copper is an excellent conductor of heat, and its chemical properties allow it to fix and eliminate undesired fatty acids that otherwise would spoil the taste.

During the first distillation the white wine is boiled and the alcohol vapours are released. As they pass through the serpentine they transform into a milky liquid called “brouillis”. The point of this first distillation is to cut off the “head” and “tail” which are the most and the least volatile components. In the second distillation, otherwise called “la bonne chauffe” the brouillis is again boiled to cut off the “head” and “tail” to produce the “heart” which is otherwise the crystal clear liquid eau-de-vie. This is now poured into oak barrels and kept for ageing.

The ageing process is an essential step that allows a constant exchange between the eau-de-vie, wood and air. This is necessary for the slow and natural development of aromas from the 3 big families: fruit, flowers and spices, among others. The longer the cognac ages the more aromas and complexity it develops. The liquid will pass through 3 different oak barrels to achieve different characteristics in the final product. For the first 6–12 months it will start in a new oak barrel where it gains a lot of its spicy aromas. Next it will go into an older seasoned cask that will give the Cognac more texture, suppleness and complex aromas. Finally it is aged in an old 10–20 year barrel that will refine the final product.

The unofficial grades used to market cognac are based on their age counts. According to the inter-professional French institution BNIC (Bureau National Interprofessionnel du Cognac), the official quality grades of cognac are the following:

- VS (Very Special) or *** (three stars): aged at least 2 years in oak;

- VSOP (Very Special Old Pale): aged at least 4 years in oak;

- Napolean or XO (Extra Old): aged at least 6 years in oak.

The older the Cognac, the more money you will spend. However it does not mean it is best. As with wine, tasting Cognac is a subjective experience and someone can easily prefer a VSOP to an XO depending on their personal palate.

Ukrainian cognac vineyards are of great interest for the investors. Traditional centres of Ukrainian winemaking are located in Southern region – Odessa, Mykolaiv and Kherson oblasts, Crimea, and Zakarpattia oblast (Western Ukraine). Numerous international awards acknowledge Ukrainian manufacturers excellence for several hundred years. Ukrainians consume 65–70 million bottles of cognac yearly; it is 3–4 bottles per one adult. Experts think this is not an ultimate level. However, production indices show that Ukrainian cognac market has passed a stage of initial saturation and stabilized at USD 3.5–3.8 million per annum.

One third of cognac spirits used by the Ukrainian producers is of in-house manufacture. The other is imported from Moldova, Armenia and France.

Traditional producers with a hundred-year history remain Ukrainian cognac market leaders for many years now. These include Odessa (Shustov TM), Uzhhorod (Tisa TM), Kherson Tavriya (Georgiyevsky and Alexx TMs) and Crimean Koktebel vineyards. The companies secured the future success by making cognac from own grapes. The cost of the in-house production of spirits is much lower than the cost of imported materials. So, top companies pay special attention to injecting funds into establishment and expansion of the vineyards in the period of sales growth and struggling for a market standing. According to the producers, Agri-Industrial Company Tavria owns 4,500 ha of land for growing grapes, Koktebel – 2,000 ha, and Odessa vineyard uses over 1,000 hectares of land, which cover only 10–20% of winemakers’ demand for grapes.

References:

1. http://www.wine-ukraine.com/.

2. http://www.intowine.com/.