BRANDIES

At the end of this topic:

● Discuss the history of brandy

● Understand how brandy is made
● Enumerate the country that produce brandy
● Enumerate popular brand of brandy
● Decipher the cryptic letters & symbols of
relative age and quality of brandy.
● Popular Cocktail
Pre Test

1. Which of the following fruit can be use to

make Brandy?
a. Grapes
b. Plum
c. Pears
d. Strawberry
Pre Test

2. Unlike Vodka, brandy has its own country of

origin?
a. True
b. False
c. Trulse
d. Maybe
Pre Test

3. Which of the following is true about Brandy?

a. American brandy is a close competitor
of Cognac
b. Cognac and Armagnac is the same
c. Pomace Brandy exists
d. All of these
Pre Test

4. Like Champagne you can call it ‘‘Cognac’’ only if it is

made in the Cognac area of France?

True
False
Pre Test

5. Which of the following is a translation of “water of

life”
a. Eu de vie
b. zhizenniz voda
c. uisge beatha
d. All of these
How it Began.. .
Brandy began as an eau de vie, the French version of aqua
vitae that in other countries became whiskey, vodka, and
gin. In France brandy was thought of as the spirit or soul of
the wine.
Italian monks and Moorish
scholars probably began
distilling in the sixteenth
century, and brandy was one
of the first results of their
efforts. The process was used
even earlier in Spain to
transform grapes and their
juices into a more potent, but
still sophisticated, spirit.
At the time the Netherlands ruled the seas as
merchants. Dutch ship captains used the powerful,
distilled wine to fortify the regular table wines on
their journeys and to add to drinking water stored on
board to kill parasites. They called it brandewijn,
which means burned wine, and was shortened in
time to brandy.
Today most brandy drinkers are over age 30.
Brandy is perceived to be a healthy, classy spirit
that fits an upscale lifestyle. The U.S. Standards of
Identity define brandy as the distilled product of
any fruit, but what we call brandy must be made
from grapes.
Other fruit brandies must carry the name of the fruit. All
brandies must be bottled at 80 proof or higher.

Most bars use two types:

1. A good domestic brandy in the well for mixed drinks,
2. Premium brands, usually imported, for after-dinner
service.
Brandy-based cocktails include:
1. The Stinger
2. The Sidecar
3. The Brandy Alexander
4. The Brandy Manhattan
American Brandies
Most brandy consumed in the United States is
made in California. It is made in column stills at up
to 170 proof and is aged in white-oak barrels at
least two years, but usually longer. Most of these
brandies are blends— smooth and fruity, with a
touch of sweetness—that may contain up to 21⁄2
percent of added flavoring.
Christian Brothers and E & J Gallo have been competing
for years as the two top brandy producers in the United
States. Recently these companies have faced stiff
competition from French imports, in bottles that make
them look more expensive
than they are.
Some U.S.-based producers, including Germain Robin,
[Link], and RMS, make their brandies the European way,
the same as Cognac, by crushing the grapes at the peak of
ripeness, not adding sugar during fermentation, and distilling in
pot stills.
Brandy is most popular in three markets—
1. African Americans, people over age 50,
2. and in the so-called ‘‘Brandy Belt’’ of Wisconsin,
Minnesota,
3. Northern Michigan, where German and Scandinvian
immigrants from past generations settled and remained
loyal to this spirit that was popular in their native
countries.
Marketers are attempting to widen the audience for
brandy with upscale releases, flavored products (for
example, Korbel Extra Smooth contains orange, vanilla,
and nutmeg) and brandy-based cocktails, such as the
Brandy Martini (brandy, Amaretto, and a splash of cherry
juice) and Brandy Sunburst (brandy, Triple Sec, sweet and
sour mix, grenadine, orange juice, and a splash of 7UP).
Cognac.
Of all the brandies in the world, Cognac is
the most famous and prestigious. It has
been called the king of brandies, and also
the brandy of kings, and has a somewhat
stuffy reputation.
In recent years an oversupply in French
warehouses has driven prices down, and the
government has even paid vintners to remove
some of their grape acreage from Cognac
production. Still, some people think that
there is no better way to end an evening than
with a glass of fine Cognac (today a good cigar
to accompany it is optional).
Like Champagne you can call it ‘‘Cognac’’
only if it is made in the Cognac area of
France, made up of six specific areas,
where chalky soil, a humid climate, and
special distillation techniques produce
brandy under strict government control.
Cognac is aged in special oak casks at least 1
1/2 years. Most are aged 2 to 4 years, and some
even longer. Caramel may be added for uniform
color. During aging the alcohol evaporates through
the porous casks at an average of 2 percent per
year. In the warehouses the escaping
vapors—known as ‘‘the angels’ share’’—are
noticeable.
A Cognac label may carry cryptic letters, special
words, and varying numbers of stars. The stars may
mean somewhat different things for different brands. By
French law a three-star Cognac must be at least 11⁄2
years old; most are around 4
years old. Since Cognacs are blends of brandies of
various ages, no age is allowed to appear on the label.
The cryptic letters are symbols of relative age and
quality, as follows:
V - Very
S - Superior or Special
O - Old
P - Pale
E - Extra or Especial
F - Fine
X - Extra
Generally a Cognac specified VS (very superior) is similar
to a three-star Cognac. A VSOP (very superior old pale)
has been aged in wood at least 41⁄2 years, and probably 7
to 10. An XO (extra old) means the youngest spirit in the
blend has been aged more than 6 years, although the
average age for this type of high-end Cognac may be 20
years. The designations Extra, Vieille Reserve, and
Napoleon may not appear on the label unless the Cognac
is at least 51⁄2 years old. (Contrary to legend, there is no
Cognac around dating from Napoleon’s day, though some
shippers have stocks of 50 years old and more to use in
blending their finest Cognacs.)
● VS - means "Very Special", the youngest alcohol has been aged
for at least two years. It can be also marked with 3 stars.
● VSOP - means "Very Superior Old Pale", it is also referred as
Reserve or Old. The youngest alcohol has been aged for at
least four years.
● XO - means "Extra Old", the youngest alcohol has been aged
for at least six years or ten years for bottles packed after 1st
April 2018. It is also known as Old Reserve.
● XXO - means "Extra Extra Old", the youngest alcohol has been
aged for at least fourteen years
Armagnac.
Armagnac (ARM-un-yak) is another French spirit
familiar to Americans, distilled from white-grape
brandy and with much the same upscale appeal
as Cognac. Armagnac comes from its own
restricted region of Southwest France (Gascony
home of ‘‘The Three Musketeers’’), which is
divided into three districts.
There are several major differences between Armagnac and
Cognac: Armagnac makers are allowed to use any of a dozen
grape varietals; their product is distilled only once, not twice like
Cognac; and Armagnac is distilled more often in a column still than
a pot still. These particular column stills, called alambic
Armagnacias, are very small and made of copper; they are almost
a hybrid of the column still and pot still.
Armagnac is also aged in oak, and typically it is aged longer
than Cognac. On the label you’ll see some of the same jargon and
abbreviations, although Armagnac is permitted to have its age
printed on the label. If the product is a blend, the age of the
youngest component of the blend is used; the oldest blends (10
years or more) may be vintage-dated or labeled Hors d’age.
Armagnac is traditionally served at the end of a meal and can be paired
with fresh fruit or chocolate. However, the Armagnac National Association
Bureau also suggests serving it in the following ways:

● Trou Gascon, which means ice cold, as a palate cleanser between

courses.
● With foie gras, smoked salmon, or other meat-based hors d’oeuvres.
● Floc de Gascogne, half-and-half with grape juice. This can be an
aperitif with melon or cheeses, or as a dessert.
Armagnac Brands

● Domaine de Papolle,

● De Caussade,
● Janneau,

● Chateau Laubade,
● Château du Tariquet,
● Napoleon, and
● Vielle Reserve.
Brandies Around the World.
When you start looking you will be surprised at how many
countries have brandy-making industries.

● In the United States, brandy production dates back to the

Spanish missions of 1800s California, although in the 1920s
a combination of phylloxera and Prohibition proved almost
lethal for the booming industry
Solera System
Solera is a process for aging
liquids such as wine, beer,
vinegar, and brandy, by
fractional blending in such a
way that the finished product
is a mixture of ages, with the
average age gradually
increasing as the process
continues over many years
[Link]
● Today Spanish brandies have reputations as some of the
world’s finest. They come from two areas. In Jerez, the
Southwestern town where the majority of brandy makers are
congregated, distilling has been going on since 900 A.D..

● The other Spanish brandy-making region is Penedes, which

is not far from Barcelona in Northeastern Spain; however,
there are only two producers in this area, Mascaro and
Torres.
● German brandies are called weinbrand (VINE-brond),
produced in pot stills, and aged for a minimum of 6 months
in oak. Those aged a year or more are designated as uralt or
alter, which means older. These brandies are usually made
of imported grapes from France, and the German style is
somewhat lighter and sweeter than traditional cognac.
● Mexico does not come to mind as a wine-producing
country, and perhaps that is because most of the wine
produced there is distilled to make brandy, which now
outsells both rum and tequila in that country. Mexican
brandies are made in both column and pot stills and
aged in solera systems. Pedro Domecq and
Presidente are among the Mexican brand names
exported to the United States.
Pisco (PEES-koh) is a strong brandy that originated in Peru
(Pisco is the name of a local tribe that created the drink
from sweet, wild Muscat or Quebranta grapes) but is now a
major product of Chile and Bolivia as well. If made in Bolivia, it
maybe called Singani. Pisco was popular in California during
the Gold Rush and is still the base for a refreshing summer
cocktail called the Pisco Sour, although Pisco is not easy to
find in the United States.
● Metaxa is the well-known after-dinner spirit from
Greece. Made in pot stills, slightly sweetened, and
infused with herbs and spices, it is technically a
liqueur but is generally thought of and marketed as
brandy.
● South Africa has a well-established brandy
industry that dates back to the arrival of Dutch
colonists in the 1700s. South African brandies
must be aged 3 years in oak, by law. About
25 percent of the production is premium spirits;
the rest is often used to mix with cola, a drink
that is popular there. KWV and Backsberg
are brands sometimes seen in America, but
there are at least 50 made in South Africa. A
South African Brandy Foundation was formed
in 1984, and a ‘‘Brandy Route’’ enables
tourists to visit multiple distillers and sample
the products.
Pomace Brandies and
Grappa.
Pomace Brandies and Grappa. There is
one more spirit that, although it is not a
brandy, is made in much the same way—in
this case, by distilling the leftover skins,
stems, and seeds from winemaking. These
leftover grape pressings are known in Italy
as vinaccia, in France as marc, and
elsewhere as pomace.
Popular
Cocktail
Popular
Cocktail
Popular
Cocktail