Cognac's birthday (01/04)

April 1 marks the unofficial holiday – Cognac Birthday, known mainly among manufacturing specialists, as well as fans of one of the strong alcoholic drinks.

Cognac is a strong alcoholic drink, a type of brandy, that is, wine distillate, produced using strict technology from certain grape varieties in a specific area.

The name «Cognac» is of French origin and indicates the name of the town and area (region) in which it is located. It is here and only here that this famous alcoholic drink is produced. By the way, the inscription on the bottles «cognac» indicates that the contents are not related to the real drink, since the legislation of France and strict regulations of manufacturers in this country clearly state the requirements for the production of this alcoholic drink. Moreover, the slightest deviations from the technology of growing a grape variety, the production, storage and bottling process can deprive the manufacturer of his license.

The same regulations also hide the date considered the birthday of cognac. It is due to the fact that all young grape wine prepared for cognac production and fermented over the winter must be poured into barrels before April 1. This date is also determined by the specifics of the production process, since the onset of spring warming and the variability of spring weather in this region of France can negatively affect the taste of the drink, which will disrupt the technology for producing cognac. From this moment (April 1) the countdown of the age or aging of cognac begins. These regulations were approved in France for the first time in 1909, after which they were supplemented several times.

The secrets of drink production are strictly stored by manufacturers. There is an opinion that even the distillation apparatus (cube), called the Charente Alambique (after the name of the Charente department, in which the town of Cognac is located) has its own technological features and secrets. The barrels in which cognac is aged are also special and are made from certain types of oak.

The secrets of producing the drink are strictly stored by manufacturers (Photo: Boule, licensed by Shutterstock.com)

Those alcoholic drinks, on the bottle label of which the name «cognac» is displayed instead of «cognac», are not counterfeit or a low-quality alcoholic product. They are simply varieties of brandy that are not related to the drink that appeared in France in the 17th century and received its corporate name there.

Cognac is considered one of the national treasures in France. Every year, on the streets of the city that gave its name to this popular alcoholic drink, festive events are tripled with the opportunity for guests to taste products from famous cognac brands, as well as other alcoholic beverages.

In Russia, the history and features of cognac production, from the most authoritative point of view, can be found in Moscow at the Museum of the History of Cognac at the «KiN» wine and cognac factory.



• Infographics – poster «1 April — Cognac's birthday»

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