How to Make Cognac
Cognac is the world's best known and most elegant brandy due to its rich, smoky taste. Creating it is difficult to do and takes a lot of time, effort and skill, but the results are that you have made liquor which is worthy of a king. Does this Spark an idea?
Other People Are Reading
Things You'll Need
- Ugni Blanc, Folle Blanche and Colombard grapes
- Horizontal plate or pneumatic presses
- Charentais or Alambic pots for distillation
- Oak casks
- Cellar
Instructions
-
-
1
Harvest grapes in early October when they are mature.
-
2
Press grapes in either horizontal plate presses or pneumatic presses. Remove grape pips (seeds) while pressing the grapes to remove the tannins because they can damage your Cognac.
-
-
3
Leave freshly pressed grape juice to ferment. Fermentation for Cognac must take place naturally, so don't add any sugar, antioxidants or sulfur which could ruin the taste of your brandy. Fermentation usually takes 2 or 3 weeks.
-
4
Begin distillation by first boiling the unfiltered wine until it has an alcohol level of 28 to 32 percent. This step can last between 8 to 10 hours. Then return the unfiltered wine to the boiler until the alcohol reaches 70 percent. This process takes about 12 hours.
-
5
Put the new Cognac into oak casks which are stored in darkened cellars where it matures for at least 2 years. The dryness or dampness of the cellar can affect the Cognac as it matures. During this process the oak transfers its tannin to the liquid which produces the amber color of the liquor.
-
6
Blending is the final and most mystical aspect in creating this wonderful liquor, since Cognac isn't the result of only one year's efforts, but from the blending of many years' efforts to create one perfect one. It takes a great deal of skill and knowledge about Cognac to do this well.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
Tannin is a sour substance that comes from grape skins, seeds, stems and oak barrels. It acts as a natural preservative that helps wine age and develop.
There are laws and rules about the proper production of Cognac, such as The Decree of May 15, 1936, forbids chaptalization, which means adding sugar to the process in order to increase the alcohol level of the wine, along with certain Cognac regulations which require that distillation from a harvest to be completed by March 31st of the following year.
Because the wine produced from the Ugni Blanc, Folle Blanche and Colombard grapes, has a low alcohol content, it takes about 10 gallons of wine to produce 1 gallon of Cognac.
The pots used for distillation of Cognac are made of copper because doesn't affect the taste of Cognac.
