On April 1, an unofficial holiday is celebrated, known mainly in the circles of manufacturing specialists, as well as fans of one of the strong alcoholic drinks – Cognac birthday.
Cognac is a strong alcoholic drink, a type of brandy, that is, a wine distillate, produced according to strict technology from certain grape varieties in a particular area.
The name “»Of French origin and indicates the name of the town and the 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 have nothing to do with this drink, since the French legislation and strict regulations of the producers of this country clearly spell out the requirements for the manufacture of this alcoholic beverage. Moreover, the slightest deviations from the technology of growing grape varieties, the production process, storage and bottling can deprive the producer of the license.
In the same regulations, the date is also hidden, which is considered the birthday of the cognac. It is connected with the fact that everything prepared for the production of cognac and fermented during the winter young grape wine should be poured into barrels before. This date is also due to 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 cognac production technology. From this moment (April 1), the age or aging of the cognac begins. These regulations were approved in France for the first time in 1909, after which they were repeatedly supplemented.
The secrets of the production of the drink are strictly kept by the producers. It is believed that even a distillation apparatus (cube), called the Charente alambic (after the name of the department of Charente, in which the town of Cognac is located) has its own technological features and secrets. The barrels in which the cognac is aged are also special and are made from certain types of oak.
Those alcoholic drinks, on the bottle label of which instead of “cognac” the name “cognac” flaunts, are not at all counterfeit or low-quality alcoholic product. They are simply varieties of brandy that have nothing to do with the drink that appeared in France in the 17th century and received its brand name there.
Cognac in France is considered one of the national treasures. 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 of 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 in the Museum of the History of Cognac at the KiN Wine and Cognac Factory. Here is also the only alambik brought from France in Russia.