The Loire (/lwɑːr/LWAR, US also /luˈɑːr/loo-AR, French:[lwaʁ]; Occitan: Léger[ˈledʒe]; Arpitan: Lêre; Breton: Liger[ˈliːɡɛr]; Latin: Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of 1,006 kilometres (625 mi), it drains 117,054 km (45,195 sq mi), more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhône.
The Allier (UK: /ˈælieɪ/AL-ee-ay, US: /ælˈjeɪ,ɑːlˈjeɪ/a(h)l-YAY, French:[alje]; Occitan: Alèir) is a river in central France. It is a left tributary of the Loire. Its source is in the Massif Central, in the Lozère department, east of Mende. It flows generally north. It joins the Loire west of the city of Nevers. It is 421 km (262 mi) long, and has a drainage basin of 14,350 km (5,540 sq mi).
Covering an area 6,817 square kilometres (2,632 sq mi), Nièvre is landlocked between six other departments: Yonne to the north, Côte-d'Or to the east, Saône-et-Loire to the southeast, Allier to the south, Cher to the west and Loiret to the northwest.
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.