What is Brandy?

 All about Brandy↓

WHAT IS BRANDY?

    Brandy is a distilled Alcoholic beverage from WINE.It contains 35–60% alcohol by volume and is typically drunk as an after-dinner digestif. It produced in All wine producing areas, by fermenting and distilling grape juice. It can make by other fruits also such as Peach, Apple, Pear, Apricot, Cherry. And the name of brandy's depends on that like, if it's made by cherry, then Cherry Brandy and if it's by Apricot than, Apricot Brandy. When The label just reads Brandy, It means it made by grape wine only.

WORD INTRODUCTION:-

      The word Brandy comes from the Dutch word "brandewijn", which means burnt wine. Brandy Distillation is a burning process which is done by heat.

       France was the first country to produce brandy, but it was prepared only as a medicine and was considered as possessing such a great strengthening and sanitary powers that the physicians named it Eau-de-vie, which means "the water of life." (Colorless fruit brandies are often called water of life.)

CLASSIFICATION:-

There are mainly two types of brandies made in France___ 

1. Cognac  -              The most famous Brandy.  
2. ArmagnacThe   -  Oldest Brandy.

1. Cognac-

   The Cognac region of France is located on the west-central Atlantic coast.  This region produces the world’s best-known brandy-Cognac. The region is famous for Ugni Blanc, Folle Blanche, and Colombard vinifera grapes which produce wines that are thin, tart, and low in alcohol. As per master sommelier (wine expert), it's not great for wine, but perfect for brandy.

Cognacs are unique in the spirit world. There is no vintage brandy There is no age statement for Cognac.

      The label of Cognac give the number of years the particular Cognac is age for__

    *One Star Matured for 2 years.
  **Two Star Matured for 2-4 years.
***Three Star Matured for 5-8 years.
V.O           -    Very Old
V.O.P        -   Very Old Pale
V.S.O        -   Very Superior Old
V.S.O.P    -   Very Superior Old Pale
V.V.S.O.P -   Very Very Superior Old Pale
X.O          -   Extra old – a minimum age of 6 years for the young brandy in the blend with the average age running 20 years or older.
 SOME POPULAR COGNAC BRANDS:-

1.     Hennessy
2.     Martell
3.     Remy Martin
4.     Courvoisier

2. Armagnac-

     The name Armagnac is given to the Brandy made in The Armagnac region of France which is located in the south-west corner of the country. It is the world oldest brandy. The process of making Armagnac is same as like Cognac.

The difference in the brandies is in the distillation and the length of aging. Armagnac is dry in taste and also bitter, and it must be aged for 10 years to get the best results.

SOME POPULAR ARMAGNAC BRANDS:-

1.     Hors d' ag
2.     Reserve d' moine
3.     Neplion XO
4.     Janneau

      Without this two region of France, there is another region name CALVADOS.

CALVADOS produced famous apple brandy from Normandy in Upper France where the climate is not suitable for grapes, But the region is very good for apple.