Month: October 2009

  • Otard Cognac Visit

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    Last month I took a big trip to Cognac to learn about cognac. One of the many houses I visited was Otard. This cognac house is located in the former fortifying castle of Cognac in which Francois the First was born, on the Charente River next door to Hennessy. A tour of Otard is part…

  • A Visit to Courvoisier Cognac

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    On a recent trip to France, I stopped in to Courvoisier cognac for a visit. Courvoisier is located not in the city of Cognac, but in Jarnac- one of the two other main cognac towns along with Segonzac. Jarnac appears to be a bigger city than Cognac and looks a bit more lively. I popped…

  • Cognac Pierre Ferrand Visit

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    One night on a recent visit to France, I visited Cognac Pierre Ferrand. It was awesome. Our group had the good fortune to visit Ferrand on the first day of the cognac harvest, and the bad fortune to arrive so late that we missed seeing it. Alas. Still, we had a tour of the still…

  • Cognac Frapin Visit

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    A few weeks ago I went to France to learn about cognac. One of the stops was the house of Cognac Frapin. Frapin sells only estate-grown/distilled/aged cognac, produced in the Grande Champagne delimited region of the cognac area near the town of Segonzac. Frapin is a massively impressive operation from the cellars to the blending…

  • A Cooperage in Cognac

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    I've been to nearly 50 distilleries of all kinds of spirits, but a few weeks ago was my first visit to a real cooperage- finally! Vicard Tonnelleries is a 6th generation cooperage near Cognac in France, where they produce 60,000 French, Eastern European, and American oak barrels each year.  American oak? Yes indeed. They buy…