1 Video View·Jan 9, 2026 #wine #winetasting #wine #winetasting
After fermentation, the white wine is distilled into 'eau-de-vie.' To become Cognac, this involves a double distillation, for which only the heart, or middle portion of the second distillation is retained. The heads, too high in alcohol, and the tails, lacking harmony, are carefully removed and distilled over again to perfection.
For its first distillation, the unfiltered wine is brought to boil in the copper pot. Since alcohol evaporates faster than water, alcoholic vapors can be collected in the onion dome shaped cowl and in the swan neck, which slows the rectification process of the flavors, before passing into the long serpentine condenser coil. Vapors condense to the contact of the cooler and turn into a liquid known as 'brouilli,' with an alcoholic content of 27 to 30% vol. This is distilled a second time in a process called the 'bonne chauffe'. The distiller's key task is then to choose the moment when to isolate the 'heart' of this second distillation, extracting the 'head' and the 'tail' in the process.
This distillation process is a delicate and slow one. It lasts for approximately twenty four hours and requires the constant care of the distiller. It usually begins in November and is conducted day and night for several months. The rule binds it to stop at the latest at the end of March. Distillation is a key factor that gives Cognac its distinctive character. Its secrets are handed over from generation to generation.
The Charentais distillation process takes place in two stages
Primarily it is a double distillation
Once the vapors reach the condenser
they are condensed into liquid
As soon as this liquid appears a small portion of that
volume will be taken which is somewhat aggressive and heavy
We are not going to eliminate it but to set
it aside to reveal only what is interesting
It is here that the distiller the distiller's nose and their entire approach come into play
The alcohol fumes that will rise into this curve called the swan's nec
and which will be transferred into a tank called a coolant
At the first distillation if you taste the liquid it's not very good
But at the second distillation it's perfect
When the noise that is the result of the first distillation is
obtained it is collected and the condenser is filled with the noise
And we will now attack the second part of the distillation
We are still working on the same principle
As soon as the liquid appears we will take a small head sample
The elements that are more volatile which come first is why it is called the head of the distillation
The tent is used to correct the vapors
He creates a convection current inside so that the
heaviest vapors can condense and fall back into the still
And the lightest and most desirable vapors may rise into the circuit to be distilled with fresh water
This is what we keep to make the brandy
It is 70-71% alcohol and this is what we will put into the flask
It is the nose essentially the nose that will determine the fragmentation of all distillates
It's the nose Everything is done by the nose
That's why we can't replace a distiller
This one the distillate is good to separate
So here we will intervene on
So we're going to change the pipe to let it flow here
We're going to get the seconds now
And then you have the hand of this second distillation which we call the second and the size
The next step in the cognac production process is the aging process
All aging and oxidation inside the cask
give the qualities to the future cognac
We need about 9 liters of wine to make 1 liter of brandy
Therefore distillation produces a nice product from ordinary wine
Because it seems to me that you only take the best of the wine
