Cognac (French pronunciation: [kɔɲak] ; Saintongese: Cougnat; Occitan: Conhac [kuˈɲak] ) is a commune in the Charente department, southwestern France. Administratively, the commune of Cognac is a subprefecture of the Charente department.
Cognac (French pronunciation: [kɔɲak] ; Saintongese: Cougnat; Occitan: Conhac [kuˈɲak] ) is a commune in the Charente department, southwestern France. Administratively, the commune of Cognac is a subprefecture of the Charente department.
Charente (French: [ʃaʁɑ̃t] ; Saintongese: Chérente; Occitan: Charanta [tʃaˈɾantɔ]) is a department in the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. It is named after the river Charente, the most important and longest river in the department, and also the river beside which the department's two largest towns, Angoulême and Cognac, are sited. In 2019, it had a population of 352,015.
The Battle of Jarnac on 13 March 1569 was an encounter during the French Wars of Religion between the Catholic forces of Marshal Gaspard de Saulx, sieur de Tavannes, and the Huguenots led by Louis I de Bourbon, prince de Condé. The two forces met outside Jarnac between the right bank of the Charente and the high road between Angoulême and Cognac. The Huguenots were routed and Condé was killed after his surrender and his body paraded on an ass in Jarnac.
Cognac (/ˈkɒn.jæk/ KON-yak, also US: /ˈkoʊn-, ˈkɔːn-/ KOHN-, KAWN-, French: [kɔɲak] ) is a variety of brandy named after the commune of Cognac, France. It is produced in the surrounding departments of Charente and Charente-Maritime, in an officially designated wine-growing region. This region is divided into six districts with different cognacs produced in each.
Cognac production falls under French appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) designation, with production methods and naming required to meet certain legal requirements. Among the specified grapes, Ugni blanc, known locally as Saint-Émilion, is most widely used. The brandy must be twice distilled in copper pot stills and aged at least two years in French oak barrels from Limousin or Tronçais, Allier or Nevers – the majority coming from the first two. Cognac matures in the same way as whiskies and wines barrel-age, and most cognacs spend considerably longer "on the wood" than the minimum legal requirement.