The women and men of cognac

The winegrower

The winegrower is responsible for the planting and renewal of the vine stocks.

He/she also takes care of the upkeep and maintenance of the vines until they are harvested.

Mostly, he/she sells the harvest after the vinification, which transforms the harvested sugar into alcohol, taking care of the quantity and quality of the fermented alcohol.

Others, in addition to these activities, decide to continue until the ageing of the eau-de-vie, thus adding their know-how to the cognac to which they give life, before selling their eaux-de-vie.

And finally, some market all or part of their production in bottles under their own name.

There were 4289 winegrowers listed!

The distiller

A true alchemist, the distiller is there to sublimate the wine into eau-de-vie and thus concentrate the aromas.

There are several types of distiller:

The distiller :

It is a winegrower who distills his or her wines or has them distilled by enforcing expectations.

There are 3632 distillers

The professional distiller :

She/he is a professional distiller. She/he buys the wines from the winegrowers and sells the eaux-de-vie after distillation, or distills the wines of the distillers according to their expectations.

There are 120 professional distillers

The cellar master

The cellar master has many functions:

He supervises and raises the eaux-de-vie throughout the years of ageing.

He chooses the barrels (new or red) and the cellars (wet or dry).

He regularly tests the nectars to identify the eaux-de-vie that need a little more time to reach their peak, and those that are ready to be blended.