(NVR) - Cognac is often referred to as the “king” of brandies with a glorious history dating back centuries. It is produced under stringent regulations of the Bureau National Interprofessional du Cognac (BNIC) and the Institut National de l’Origine et de la Qualité (INAO) under its Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC) system in France, and must always demonstrate its sense of place representing the highest level of quality

The Cognac appellation is located in the western region of central France surrounding its namesake village and is the country’s second largest after Bordeaux. Two of its six official Crus (growing areas) — Grande Champagne and Petite Champagne — are noteworthy for their excellence and most top-level Cognacs contain a majority of fruit from these sub-appellations.

In this case, “Champagne” should not be confused with the famed sparkling wine appellation to the north, although both derive their name from the French term for chalky soils. “Fine Champagne” is the term used to denote a blend of Grande and Petite Champagne Cognacs with at least half coming from Grande Champagne. While soils of the other four Crus may exhibit some chalk they are predominately clay, flinty stone and limestone contributing differing characteristics to the final blends.

Given its unique growing area and specific permitted white grape varietals, there is no question that Cognac can be considered a wine. But after the still wine is produced by fermentation on wild yeast, Cognac must go through a distillation process as does whiskey or other spirits. But for Cognac, this is a double distillation process in copper alambic pot stills to ensure a smoother more complex result.

So is it a wine or a spirit? Actually, it is a bit of both, which adds to the romance of Cognac and complexity of its character.

Cognac’s primary and most highly regarded grapes ugni blanc (aka trebbiano in Italy), colombard and follie blanche do not make very enjoyable still wines from the soils and climatic conditions in the region. But they are perfectly suited to the distillation process and the ultimate production of Cognac.

After fermentation is complete, the resulting wine is about 7 to 8 percent alcohol and after distillation into the eaux-du-vie (water of life) this number rises to 70 percent. But with time spent in French oak (restricted to the forests of Tronçais and Limousin by BNIC) the alcohol drops to about 40 percent through evaporation.

In the 16th century, it was observed that still wines from various growing areas of Europe did not travel well to distant markets and lost much of their appeal. To overcome this difficulty, distillation was tried by some producers to gain stability and gave rise to the Dutch term “brandewijn” or burnt wine. Brandy was born, and wines from the Cognac region were considered superior to others.

Traditionally, Cognac defines the art of blending — varietals, growing areas and vintages — and rarely seen from a single vineyard or vintage as may be found with other brandies such as Armagnac from Gascony further to the south. There are several official categories defining the blend depending on the minimum age of the youngest component. There is no limit on percentage of older additions that can be included for increased levels of quality.

The youngest component of V.S. (Very Special) is no less than two years old. V.S.O.P. (Very Special Old Pale, aka Very Superior Old Pale) is no less than four years old. X.O. (Extra Old) or Napoléon is no less than six years old and will be increased to 10 years old in 2016. There are countless other designations used by specific producers but these are the most common and declared official by the BNIC.

In any discussion of brandy and Cognac, it is important to remember the old adage, “While all Cognac is brandy, not all brandy is Cognac.”