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Published: October 4th 2018
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COGNAC OCTOBER 4, 2018
Today we took a full day trip to Cognac. This is a designated region in France that is about a one hour drive Bourg. It is overcast as we leave Bourg and after one hour a light rain starts falling. We arrive at Remy Martin distillery. It is a very large complex. Remy Martin is the third largest cognac producer after Martell (#1),and Hennessy (#2). The production of cognac is a very complicated and lengthy process . They start with a white wine which is undrinkable (related to Italian trebbiano). They distill that twice until it is perfectly clear and the alcohol content is quite high about 90%. It then goes into new aging barrels. It stays in these barrels for about two years. It then is moved to the older barrels where it stays for another period of time there are four barrels that it is rotated through before it finally goes into the mixing barrels the mixing barrels the four varieties are mixed together. The seller master then determines how long they stay in the mixing barrels.
From there they go into additional aging barrels again for different periods of time? It is here that the seller master really determines the taste of the final product. The job of the seller master is extremely important in determining the final product. As the cognac ages the alcohol percentage must decrease until it finally gets to about 40% alcohol. In the final aging room the humidity is high and the walls are covered with a black fungus. This fungus is very important in producing the final product. Remi Martin makes three varieties of cognac. The first is VSOP which is the lightest and youngest of the Cognac‘s. The next is the XO. This is aged longer and is darker. It’s Premier cognac is Louis the 13th. This cognac sells for about $3000 a bottle. It is in a beautiful Baccarat crystal decanter. We did not get to taste that. It was A very interesting tour. Our guide was very knowledgeable and we got to see a lot of the cognac production. I had no idea that the development of cognac was so complicated. At the end the seller master ends up blending approximately 500 different Cognac‘s to make the
Louis the 13th. To make the X0 he blends about 200 different Cognac‘s .Therefore the end product is always unique.
After touring at the Remi Martin factory we went to the town of cognac. It is a beautiful town built all in the white limestone of the area. We got out of the bus and walked up and to the town by the beautiful castle built by Francis the first. All the streets are Cobble stone but they are a very nice flat cobblestone that is very easy to walk on. There are a few half-timbered houses still left in cognac. After walking through the town we went to a small brasserie for lunch. We had a very nice lunch and then were able to walk around the town some more. After that we got back on the bus and brought back to our ship. All in all it was a lovely day,a little long, but very very nice.
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