Simply French: The Many Personalities of Cognac

While writing "100 Places Every Woman Should Go in France," I seek inspiration from a handful of Francophile blogs, such as Paris by Mouth,Paris Patisseries and David Levovitz. I am presently writing the foodie chapter and researching the heck out of regional specialties. Today, I came across Lebovitz's post titled, Sprinting Toward Finish. (His is a food & drink blog I began obsessively following earlier this year). I enjoy his colorful, nuanced writing style and can only hope mine captures the many personalities of France in such a way.

Lebovitz writes about wrapping up year-end odds-n-ends, but ends up on a road trip to the Cognac region (a lush, crescent-shaped area in western France embracing Bordeaux). I have visited the area a few times for research purposes, but never spent much time beyond the historic sites. My ears perked up to learn he visited Martell- one of the world's oldest Cognac houses, still going strong at 300 years (est. 1715) Booze+History=intoxicated Shawnie.

Cognac is my favorite hard liquor. (Hence, the ongoing plight to find a perfect Sidecar here in Columbus.) Yet, I know very little about the heady elixir beyond it being a fancy brandy. I tend to view Cognac as an indulgence... like when when LUPEC meets up for 'old man drinks.' Or when we're camped out at the bar of some vintage chop house. But why? Besides price. I like to be educated about what I drink- partly because we all love a good cocktail, but mostly to direct my tours and readers toward special places and experiences (which will soon include Cognac houses).

I started to consider the differences between the big, old grand dames: Martell (est. 1715), Remy Martin (est. 1724), and Hennessy (est. 1765), hoping to narrow it down to just one to include in my book. After 5 minutes of research, a stark realization crept in--- there are far more small cognac houses than expected. 200 producers to be exact. But one shouldn't be surprised... it's France for pete's sake! With curiosity peaked, I intend to learn what differentiates their 'personalities'- the grapes, terroir, distillation, storage, and age, no doubt. Which offer the best tours or are surrounded by the prettiest scenery? ... got this funny feeling, I'm in pretty deep with the food and drink chapters.

Anticipate a future blog post dedicated to the champagne of brandies. And who knows? Martell might end up on the itinerary of a Wanderlustculinary tour in honor of its 300th birthday. Or perhaps, a lesser known, female-owned Cognac house might turn up as one of the 100 places every woman should visit. We've got some work to do.... Sidecars anyone?

The following images & quotes are by David Lebovitz.
"One of the best things about living in France is that each region has a personality, and a specialty. Or more specifically, many specialties. Cognac is a liquor that most of us have heard of but don’t have a lot of knowledge about, or know how it’s made or even what it is."

http://www.davidlebovitz.com

http://www.davidlebovitz.com

"Labels and age don’t tell you a whole lot about Cognac, since it basically starts as a cloudy wine made from local grapes, which eventually gets distilled into a perfectly clear liquid."