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Cognac

From white grapes to amber

A thin, sharp white wine, two slow runs through a copper still and years in French oak: that is cognac. Here is how it is made, what the six crus are, why the cellar walls turn black, and what VS, VSOP and XO really promise.

See our cognacs in the shop →How it’s made ↓

A short history

A Dutch trade, a French town

In the 1500s Dutch merchants were buying the wines of the Charente, which kept badly on the long voyage north. Distilled, they travelled well: brandewijn, ‘burnt wine’. Distilling twice, then waiting years in oak, turned that trading spirit into cognac.

1500sDutch traders distil the wines of the Charente so they survive the voyage north, and call the spirit brandewijn, ‘burnt wine’.
1600sEarly in the century, distillers start running the spirit through the still a second time: the double distillation that still defines cognac.
1715Jean Martell founds his house in Cognac. Rémy Martin follows in 1724 and Richard Hennessy in 1765.
1817The Prince Regent, the future George IV, orders a ‘very superior old pale’ cognac from Hennessy: the first VSOP.
1870sPhylloxera, a tiny American aphid, destroys most of the vineyard. It is replanted on American rootstocks, and Ugni blanc slowly takes over.
1909A decree draws the borders of the Cognac region. Cognac becomes an AOC in 1936, and its six crus are fixed in 1938.

How it’s made

Seven steps from vine to bottle

Cognac is wine, distilled twice and aged in oak, all inside one delimited region. The rules have barely changed since 1936: the art lies in the details, and in time.

01
Grapes & chalk
Cognac starts as a white wine from one delimited region north of Bordeaux: the Charente and Charente-Maritime, plus a few communes of the Dordogne and Deux-Sèvres, close to 80,000 hectares of vines. Ugni blanc covers about 98% of them. It ripens late and gives a thin, sharp wine, low in alcohol and high in acidity: poor for drinking, perfect for distilling.
Colombard, Folle blanche, Montils and Sémillon are allowed too. Folle blanche was the classic cognac grape until phylloxera; it rots easily, and today it is rare.
98%of the vines are Ugni blanc
The six crus
The region is divided into six growing areas, drawn in 1938 from a study of its soils. From the centre outwards: (1) Grande Champagne and (2) Petite Champagne, on soft chalk, give fine, floral spirits that need long ageing; (3) the small Borderies, on clay and flint, are known for violets and roundness; (4) Fins Bois, the largest, with more than 30,000 hectares of vines, gives fruity spirits that mature faster; (5) Bons Bois and (6) Bois ordinaires, on sandier soils towards the ocean, age faster still. ‘Champagne’ here means open chalky country: nothing to do with the sparkling wine.
02
The wine
The grapes are picked in early autumn and pressed straight away; continuous screw presses are banned, as they would crush too much from the skins. The juice ferments into wine with no added sugar, and no sulphur may be added while it ferments, so the wine must be distilled while it is fresh.
The result is a cloudy, acidic wine of 7 to 12% alcohol, usually around 9%. Distilling begins as soon as it is ready and must be finished by 31 March after the harvest. Some houses distil the wine with its lees, the fine yeast sediment, for a richer spirit.
31 Marchdeadline to finish distilling
03
The Charentais still
Cognac may only be distilled in the alambic charentais, a copper pot still heated over an open flame, whose shape and size have been fixed since 1936. The wine boils in the boiler; the vapour rises into the onion-shaped helmet and runs through the swan neck.
On many stills it then passes through a wine heater, a round tank where it warms the next batch of wine, before condensing in a copper coil cooled by water. For the second run the boiler may hold no more than 30 hectolitres and be filled with 25 at most: small batches, so the distiller can watch every one.
25 hlper run, at most, in the second heat
04
Two heats
The first heat, the première chauffe, turns the wine into brouillis, a milky spirit of 28 to 32%. The brouillis goes back into the boiler for the bonne chauffe, and now the distiller makes the cuts: the first, sharpest vapours, the heads, are set aside; then comes the heart, clear and around 70%.
As the strength falls, the run is switched to the secondes, then the tails. Heads, secondes and tails are distilled again with later batches, never wasted. Each heat takes around twelve hours, so turning wine into eau-de-vie takes about a day, and the stills run day and night all winter.
≈ 24 hfrom wine to eau-de-vie
05
French oak
The new eau-de-vie is colourless. It goes into oak casks, usually of 270 to 450 litres and most often around 350. The oak traditionally comes from two forests: Limousin, with a wide grain that gives more tannin, and Tronçais, finer-grained and gentler.
Cognac casks are toasted over a fire, not charred like bourbon barrels. A young spirit often starts in a new cask for colour and tannin, then moves to older casks that let it breathe without adding much more wood. It must age in oak, without a break, for at least two years.
≈ 350 lthe usual cognac cask
06
Years in the chai
Cognac ages in chais, cellars that often stand above ground along the Charente. A damp chai softens the spirit; a dry one keeps it firmer. Around 2% evaporates through the wood every year: the angels’ share, which the BNIC puts at the equivalent of 41 million bottles a year across the region.
The vapour feeds a black fungus, Baudoinia compniacensis, that darkens the walls and roofs around the chais: the surest sign that cognac is ageing nearby. Over the decades the spirit loses strength, gains colour and develops rancio, the nutty, slightly mushroomy note of a great old cognac.
≈ 2%a year to the angels
The paradis
When an eau-de-vie has reached its peak, the cellar master stops its ageing: it moves into glass demijohns, the dames-jeannes, and is kept in the paradis, the house’s most precious cellar. There it no longer changes, and can wait for decades, sometimes more than a century, for the blend it was saved for.
Counting the years
Every eau-de-vie has an official age, its compte, which goes up by one each 1 April. A VS may only use eaux-de-vie of at least compte 2, two years in oak; VSOP needs compte 4, Napoléon compte 6 and XO compte 10. XXO asks for 14 years. Beyond that the label only promises a minimum: most fine cognacs are far older.
07
Blending & reduction
Most cognac is a blend of eaux-de-vie from different crus, years and casks, sometimes hundreds of them. The cellar master tastes and assembles them so that the house style stays the same from one year to the next. The big houses buy much of their eau-de-vie from thousands of grower-distillers.
The strength is brought down slowly, often over months, with distilled water: cognac must be bottled at 40% or more. Caramel for colour, a little sugar and an infusion of oak chips, the boisé, are allowed within a strict limit. Once bottled, cognac no longer ages.
40%minimum strength in the bottle

Styles

From VS to vintage

A cognac label speaks in letters. They give the age of the youngest eau-de-vie in the blend, never the average, so most fine cognacs are far older than their label says.

VS · Very Special

At least two years in oak, also sold as *** or Sélection. Young, fruity and lively: the cognac for a Sidecar or a cognac and tonic. On our shelves: Jules Gautret VS, Bonaparte VS, Baron d’Yllac VS.

VSOP · Very Superior Old Pale

At least four years: the style first blended for the future George IV. Rounder, with vanilla and dried fruit, good neat or mixed. On our shelves: Moisans VSOP organic.

Napoléon

At least six years, between a VSOP and an XO, with more spice and candied fruit. On our shelves: A.E. Dor Napoléon, Moisans Napoléon organic.

XO · Extra Old

At least ten years since April 2018 (six before), though most are much older. Rich, deep and long. On our shelves: Hennessy XO, Jules Gautret XO, A.E. Dor Carafe XO, Moisans XO.

XXO & Hors d’âge

XXO, added in 2018, means at least 14 years. Hors d’âge legally equals XO, but houses use it for their oldest blends. On our shelves: A.E. Dor Extra 30 and its numbered reserves of 35 to 70 years.

Vintage · millésime

Cognac from a single harvest, aged under official control: rare, and a snapshot of one year. On our shelves: Jules Gautret 1970, 1982 and 1990.

Fine Champagne & single crus

A cognac from one cru carries its name: Grande Champagne, Borderies, Fins Bois… Fine Champagne blends the two Champagnes, at least half Grande Champagne. On our shelves: A.E. Dor Extra 30 Grande Champagne.

Pineau des Charentes

Not a cognac but its sweet cousin: fresh grape juice blended with cognac before it can ferment, then aged; white pineau at least 18 months, 12 of them in oak. Served chilled as an aperitif. On our shelves: Jules Gautret Pineau.

The rules

What the label promises

Few spirits are as tightly defined as cognac. The headline rules, simplified:

Cognac AOC

Appellation since 1936

White wine from the delimited region: the two Charentes and parts of the Dordogne and Deux-Sèvres
Mostly Ugni blanc; no added sugar, no sulphur during fermentation
Distilled twice in a copper Charentais still over an open flame, by 31 March after the harvest
At least 2 years in oak, without a break
Bottled at 40% or more

Age statements

BNIC age accounts (comptes)

VS · ***: at least 2 years
VSOP · Réserve: at least 4 years
Napoléon: at least 6 years
XO · Hors d’âge: at least 10 years (6 before April 2018)
XXO: at least 14 years
The age is always that of the youngest eau-de-vie

The crus

Decree of 13 January 1938

Six crus: Grande Champagne, Petite Champagne, Borderies, Fins Bois, Bons Bois, Bois ordinaires
A cru on the label means all the eaux-de-vie come from it
Fine Champagne: only Grande and Petite Champagne, at least half Grande Champagne

What may be added

Cognac specification

Water, to bring the strength down
Caramel (E150a), for colour
Sugar and an infusion of oak chips (boisé)
Together they may lower the measured strength (obscuration) by 4% at most
No flavourings

A simplified summary of the Cognac specification (cahier des charges, last updated in 2025); the full text goes into more detail. Pineau des Charentes has its own appellation.

Words to know

A short cognac glossary

Eau-de-vie: ‘Water of life’: the clear spirit off the still. It only becomes cognac after two years in oak.
Brouillis: The cloudy first distillate, at 28 to 32%, which goes back into the still for the second heat.
Secondes: The part of the run after the heart, set aside and distilled again with later batches.
Cru: One of Cognac’s six growing areas, from Grande Champagne at the centre to the Bois ordinaires by the sea.
Fine Champagne: A blend of Grande and Petite Champagne cognacs, at least half of it Grande Champagne.
Chai: The cellar where cognac ages. Damp chais make rounder spirits, dry ones firmer ones.
Paradis: The cellar of a house’s oldest eaux-de-vie, kept in glass demijohns once the oak has done its work.
Compte: The official age count: every 1 April an eau-de-vie moves up one compte. VS needs compte 2.
Rancio: The rich, nutty, slightly mushroomy note of very old cognac.
Hors d’âge: ‘Beyond age’: legally the same as XO, at least 10 years, used for a house’s oldest blends.

How to taste

Five steps to taste cognac

Choose the glassA tulip-shaped glass gathers the aromas; a wide balloon lets them escape. There’s no need to warm it over a flame.
LookThe colour comes from the oak and often a touch of caramel: it hints at age but doesn’t prove it.
NoseHold the glass a little away at first. Young cognac smells of grapes, flowers and pear; old cognac of candied fruit, spice, leather and rancio.
Ice, tonic or neatVS and VSOP are made for mixing or a large ice cube. Keep XO and older neat, with a drop of water if you like.
Taste & finishLet it rest on the tongue. The finish of a great old cognac lasts for minutes.

Not sure where to start? Come and talk cognac with us at the shop: we’re happy to help you choose.

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In our shop

Cognac on our shelves

Hennessy XO, A.E. Dor’s old Grande Champagne reserves, Jules Gautret’s vintages and organic cognac from Moisans: from a young VS for mixing to reserves aged 40 years and more. Collect them at the shop or get free local delivery.