A History of Cognac
3rd Century
Creation of the vineyard at Saintonge : the Roman emperor Probus offers the Gauls the chance to grow vines and to make wine
12th Century
Guillaume X, Duke of Guyenne and Count of Poitiers, created a large vineyard called the "Vineyard of Poitou".
13th Century
The Vineyard of Poitou produced wines which, transported by dutch ships used for carrying salt from the coast, began to be appreciated by the countries around the North Sea. The town of Cognac was beginning to be known for its wine commerce which combined well with its salt storage facilities, present since the 11th Century.
16th Century
The Dutch vessels came to pick up reputable wines from Cognac from appellations “Champagne” and “Borderies”. The vineyards of Aunis produced such quantity of wine that it became difficult to clear the stock. Things were made even more difficult as the wines were low in alcohol and could not be exported easily due their deterioration in transit. At this time the Dutch merchants used them in their new distilleries. They distilled them into “brandwijn” or burnt wine.
19th Century
The vineyard extended to about 280,000 hectares at that time. But in 1875 phylloxera in the Charentes was to eradicate most of the vines. In 1893 there were just 40,000 hectares which were recovered.
20th Century
The rebuilding of the vineyards was slow and it was necessary to import American rootstock to reestablish the economy of the region.
Since 1909 there has been an "Appellation Controlee" (AOC) controlling the region.
According to this decree only liquor emanating from Eaux-de-vie from the appellations in the Cognac region can be called "Cognac". It must also be distilled and aged en situe according to the authorised techniques – notably by a double distillation in a charentais copper still. The aging must also be in oak cask with a minimum maturation period.