Brandy for heroes

LEOMINSTER, England, March 18 (UPI) -- Brandy comes from a Dutch word, meaning burnt. Wine is distilled, and is usually kept in oak barrels to mature. Eau de vie is the term for a distilled wine bottled clear and colorless. Schnapps is an eau de vie from a German speaking country. Cognac and Armagnac can be made only in their respective regions. Brandy can be made anywhere they make wine. Other fruit can also be fermented and distilled.

When medieval France was mostly in the hands of the English, the wine, which they favored, was shipped out from La Rochelle. After the English lost control of this area, there was no market for the wine, as it was too difficult to transport overland to Paris. The vineyards went into a slow decline. Another problem was that the wine was thin and acid, and nobody except the English really liked it.

The Dutch started to distil wine to preserve wines sent out to their colonies, but the English were the first to take up the drinking of brandy. It was London that restored the fortunes of the area in the 17th Century.

At that time the great Dr. Samuel Johnson, compiler of one of the first English dictionaries, noted that claret was for boys, port was for men, but anyone who aspired to be a hero had to drink brandy. The Coffee Houses of London did not only provide coffee, and the brandy from Cognac was soon commanding a premium.

The Excise men needed a rough and ready way to determine the alcohol content of barrels smuggled in at dead of night on Cornish beaches. The way they used to do this was to take a small pile of gunpowder, soak it in the confiscated goods, and compare the rate at which it burned. If it burnt at the same rate as the dry powder, it was 100 proof. If it burnt faster, it was more than 100 proof, and if it burnt slower it was less than 100 proof. British Customs and Excise used this measure until the 1970s, though in latter days they did it without the gunpowder and the darkened Cornish beach.

People often talk of drinks in terms of percent proof. There is no such measure, and what they really mean is degrees proof. Seventy degrees proof is roughly 40 percent alcohol by volume.

(Anyone seeking further unlikely bits of utterly useless information about the history of alcohol together with much more useful facts about alcohol could seek out alcoholinformation.org.)

Shippers from Britain and Ireland went over to the area to found firms which are still active in Cognac production; Hennessy was an Irishman who had served in the French Army; Jean Martell arrived from Jersey; Thomas Hine came from Dorset. Courvoisier was French but he came from the Jura, near the Swiss border. These four companies still dominate the world of cognac. The actual ownership of the various companies is a piece in its own right -- but preferably by someone in the business section.

Phylloxera killed all the vines in Cognac in the 19th Century. The vines were replanted, and the main variety is Ugni Blanc, better known as Trebbiano in its native Italy. The wine is twice distilled in a pot still. This allows the distillate to taste of the grape as well as the alcohol, and is aged for various lengths of time in oak barrels - usually from the Limousin forest. VS (Very Special) or is less than five years old, VSOP (Very Special Old Pale) is usually 5 to 10 years, XO is usually about 15 years. There are brandies older than these available but usually at rarefied prices. Once bottled, they do not age further.

The house styles of the main houses are summarized:

Hennessy uses a lot of wine from the Borderies area, which gives their cognac a more fruity taste than most.

Martell uses oak from the Tronçais forest, which is denser and gives a smoother finish.

Hine avoids the Borderies and produces cognac, which is lighter and more elegant.

Courvoisier is richer and smoother, sometimes using a trace of caramel to standardize the color.

There are other makers but too many to mention here. Cognac is quite distinctive, and the different houses all produce variations on the same theme. A trip to Cognac is well worth it, to see how it is made, and to find the small-scale producers who do not have the means to export in any quantity.

The postwar period has brought about the rise in the Far Eastern economy. Wealthy consumers all over the Far East have become connoisseurs of fine Cognac. The heavier, fruitier style has proved more popular in this region, so producers have made special blends to satisfy the taste of this increasingly important market.

Armagnac is produced in a single distillation leaving a drink, perhaps a little rougher at the edges, but with more of the grape in the taste. When there are two brandies so good it has to be personal preference in the end. My own preference is for Armagnac. I can understand and appreciate the smooth sophistication of a fine cognac, but I prefer the more rustic approach of a good Armagnac.

Until the early 20th Century, Armagnac was sold in Cognac and blended in to make cognac. Distillation began much earlier here than in other parts of France. The University at Montpellier had links to Arab learning, and the earliest record of distillation in the area dates back to 1411. Distillation began in China in about the 10th Century. It spread to the Arab world and made its way into Europe probably through Moorish Spain.

The breakthrough came with a local adaptation of the Coffey still. (For details of this see last month's piece on whisky.) This allows the economy of the Coffey still while retaining more of the congeners (the substances responsible for the taste) in the distillate. A single distillation is performed. I do not know of this type of still being used outside Armagnac.

The main grape is again Ugni blanc, but with a little Folle blanche, sometimes known in Armagnac as Picpoul. This is a more aromatic grape than the Ugni blanc and helps to give Armagnac its distinctive qualities. The grading system and ageing for Armagnac is similar to that of Cognac.

While in Cognac there are four main houses, in Armagnac, Janneau is the main producer. Unfortunately, not all their products are exciting. You have to go a long way up their price list to find the really good stuff. You will get an idea of the style from the lower end of their price range, but not much of the excitement.

A few years ago, Tradition, their entry blend was made from a blend of product from a Coffey still with some from the uniquely Armagnac still. The more expensive VSOP was a blend of the Armagnac from the Armagnac still and their own wines distilled in Cognac. I have not been able to find out if this still is the case, but the taste leaves me to suspect that it is. The XO and Reserve Armagnac come entirely from the Armagnac still, and are both very good.

There are many small-scale producers, and most of them use only the Armagnac still. Look out for them in your specialist store. The ones I have seen most often outside the Southwest of France are Clef des Ducs and Chateau du Tariquet. A visit to the area is well worth it, if only to discover how well the taste of Armagnac goes with the locally produced dried plums.

Brandy can be produced anywhere wine is made. Spain, thanks to the Arab influence in the South, has the longest tradition in Europe for distilling wines. In Jerez de la Frontera, which, for many years, lay on the frontier between Christian and Moorish Spain, they still use a word derived from Arabic for the still, Alquitara. Various traditions date distillation in this area to the 13th Century. It became used mainly for making the brandy to fortify sherry. Most of the best Spanish brandies still come from this area mostly produced by the makers of Sherry. (Sherry will be the topic next month.)

There are several brandies of real quality from this area and a code to differentiate them.

Brandy de Jerez Solera, 6 months in oak.

Brandy de Jerez Solera Reserva, 1 year in oak

Brandy de Jerez Solera Gran Reserva, 3 years in oak.

German brandy is usually made from imported wines, mostly from France and Italy. Some of it is very good. Asbach is more than acceptable in spite of the distance between wine and distillery.

Grappa, from Italy, is often pretty rough and is an eau de vie (clear and colorless) usually made from the marc, the skins -- and sometimes stalks -- left over from the winemaking. They are often distilled in the region where they are made. The grappa, which comes from a named grape variety, are usually much finer in quality. Look out for Distilleria Ceretto, whose Nebbiolo has a wonderful intensity. The Dolcetto is very elegant and well balanced.

I have to own up to not having tried any New World brandy, but I have a reliable source on whose judgment I depend. If there is anyone out there who would like to send me a sample, I would be very appreciative.

Outside Europe, brandy is produced in Australia, the United States and South Africa. Hardy in South Australia distils a mixture of wines. They do a Black Bottle, which is decent if a touch medicinal, and a VSOP, which is rather good.

Gallo from California produce a quite pleasant brew from a Coffey still, but the better and more interesting brandies are from smaller scale producers using pot stills. Christian Brothers use mainly the unlikely and unpromising Thompson Seedless grapes to make a superb XO. Germain-Robin makes some interesting brandies from varieties not usually used in brandy making, including Pinot Noir and Gamay.

Fermented juices of other fruit can be distilled. In Normandy, cider is used to make Calvados. In England, cider brandy is produced in a similar way. In the United States it is called Applejack. They are usually matured in oak to develop greater complexity.

The Germans (and Austrians) will distil almost anything to make Schnapps. Most are pretty fiery, but the Gentian schnapps I tried on a mountain holiday in Austria was truly the most awful thing I have ever tasted. I fell for the pretty label! I recently tried a rowanberry Schnapps - fruity with a hint of almond, from Styria, in Southeast Austria, which I thought was wonderful.

Alsace, in Northeast France, produces Poire Williams, an eau de vie, made from Williams pears, and is often superb. The best of them really do taste of pears. Kirsch is also produced in a similar way from cherries, the best I have tried also coming from Alsace. The best Kirsch deserves to be more than just ingredient in fruit salad or fondue.

In the Balkans the plum is the thing, and Slivovitz -- a double-distilled plum eau de vie, sometimes 60 percent or more alcohol, (about 140º proof) -- is too fiery for my taste, though in my younger days, I could cope. Even then, it was quite disconcerting to feel my esophagus going numb as the Slivovitz went down -- and I shudder to think what it did to my liver.

There's brandy and there's brandy. The classic French brandies from Cognac and Armagnac have and, in my opinion, deserve their faithful and devoted following. However, good brandy is not always French. Some of my favorites are not even made from the grape. One is the 10--year-old Cider Brandy, distilled in Hereford, just 12 miles South of Leominster. I even prefer this to most Calvados.

My son, currently studying Chemistry in Austria, has orders to bring back some rowanberry schnapps on his return. I hope this will pacify the Austrian branch of my family after my earlier comments on the gentian schnapps.

There are brandies so rough, it would require an act of heroism to finish the glass. This guide, though not intended to be comprehensive, should enable the reader to avoid the need for actions above and beyond the call of duty.

(Geoff Morris can be contacted at Orchard, Hive & Vine, 4 High Street, Leominster, Herefordshire UK HR6 8LZ, or by email [email protected])