Cognac (; Saintongese: ''Cougnat''; oc, Conhac ) is a

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

in the

Charente Charente (; Saintongese: ''Chérente''; oc, Charanta ) is a department in the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, south western France. It is named after the river Charente, the most important and longest river in the department, an ...

department, southwestern France. Administratively, the commune of Cognac is a

subprefecture A subprefecture is an administrative division of a country that is below prefecture or province. Albania There are twelve Albanian counties or prefectures, each of which is divided into several districts, sometimes translated as subprefectures. ...

of the Charente department.

Name

The name is believed to be formed from individual masculine name -Connius, Gallic name, and the suffix -acum, which would correspond to the "domain of Connius".

History

The town of Cognac was unknown before the ninth century, when it was fortified. During the

Hundred Years' War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a series of armed conflicts between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France during the Late Middle Ages. It originated from disputed claims to the French Crown, ...

, the town continually changed sides, according to the tides of war. In 1526, it lent its name to the

War of the League of Cognac The War of the League of Cognac (1526–30) was fought between the Habsburg dominions of Charles V—primarily the Holy Roman Empire and Spain—and the League of Cognac, an alliance including the Kingdom of France, Pope Clement VII, the Repub ...

, the military alliance established by King

Francis I of France Francis I (french: François Ier; frm, Francoys; 12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin once ...

to fight against the

House of Habsburg The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

. As a benefit of the War League of Cognac, King Francis I granted to the town of Cognac the commercial right to participate in the

salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantitie ...

trade conducted along the river, from which regional Cognac developed into a centre for the production of

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...

and

brandy Brandy is a liquor produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains 35–60% alcohol by volume (70–120 US proof) and is typically consumed as an after-dinner digestif. Some brandies are aged in wooden casks. Others are coloured with ...

. In November 1651, Cognac was besieged by rebels led by

Prince de Condé A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

during the 1648-1653 civil war, the "

Fronde The Fronde () was a series of civil wars in France between 1648 and 1653, occurring in the midst of the Franco-Spanish War, which had begun in 1635. King Louis XIV confronted the combined opposition of the princes, the nobility, the law cour ...

"; and the town was relieved in December by a force under Comte d'Harcourt; afterwards, King

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Vers ...

granted Cognac additional commercial rights.

Cognac was part of the historic French province of

Angoumois Angoumois (), historically the County of Angoulême, was a county and province of France, originally inferior to the parent duchy of Aquitaine, similar to the Périgord to its east but lower and generally less forested, equally with occasional vin ...

. In 1790, following the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

that began the year before, the provinces were abolished and Angoumois became part of the newly created department of

Geography

Cognac is situated on the river

between the towns of

Angoulême Angoulême (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Engoulaeme''; oc, Engoleime) is a communes of France, commune, the Prefectures of France, prefecture of the Charente Departments of France, department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of southwestern Franc ...

and Saintes. The majority of the town has been built on the river's left bank, with the smaller right bank area known as the Saint Jacques district. The town is situated on one of the pilgrimage routes to

Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city has its origin in the shrine of Saint James the Great, now the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, as the destination of the Way of St ...

and is home to the French Air Force training base 709. Cognac is southwest of Paris.

Cognac brandy

The town gives its name to one of the world's best-known types of

eau de vie An ''eau de vie'' (French for spirit, §16, §17 literally " water of life") is a clear, colourless fruit brandy that is produced by means of fermentation and double distillation. The fruit flavor is typically very light. In English-speakin ...

. Drinks must be made in certain areas around the town of Cognac and must be made according to strictly defined regulations to be granted the name Cognac. Cognac is a unique spirit in that it is double-distilled. This process can be viewed in one of the many "Grande Marque" Cognac houses which all have visitor centres. Most central in the town are Hennessy, Martell, Otard, Camus and Remy Martin. About east of Cognac is Jarnac, home to Courvoisier. There are six vineyard areas around the Cognac area, all of which are within the Appellation Controlee for Cognac, but which are considered to vary in quality from the best growth area of "Grande Champagne" (nothing to do with the Champagne wine region in NE France), through "Petite Champagne" then "Borderies", "Fins Bois", "Bon Bois" and finally "Bois Ordinaire". The best Cognacs are generally only made using Grande and Petite Champagne grapes, but all Cognac is produced by blending a variety of ''eau de vie'' which can be made from grapes from different locations, and from different vintages. It is the cellar master's skill that ensures that a brand's Cognac is recognizable regardless of when it is produced, since he can blend multiple ''eaux de vie'' to achieve the right taste for his house. Different qualities of Cognac are produced by all brands, and include VS ("Very Special"); VSOP ("Very Superior r, more commonly, "Special", though the Bureau National Interprofessionnel du Cognac specifies "Superior"Old Pale") and XO ("eXtra Old"). (English terms are still used, since in the early days of Cognac production it was the British who were the main consumers and also became some of the main producers of Cognac, using techniques acquired from the distillation of whisky, etc.) These are controlled by the length of time the Cognac is allowed to mature in oak barrels, a minimum time being required at each grade level. The longer the Cognac matures in the barrel the smoother it will generally become. Once it is bottled no further development takes place. Most houses still have barrels of Cognac dating back to the 19th century sitting in their cellars waiting for fine blending by the Cellar Master.

Climate

Population

The inhabitants of the town are known in French as ''Cognaçais''.

Landmarks

* The Old Town. The town's medieval quarter "Vieux Cognac" runs from the Tours Saint-Jacques, alongside the river, up to the Saint-Léger church. The area contains many unusual buildings, built between the 15th and 18th centuries, situated on narrow cobbled streets. Many contain sculptures of the

salamander Salamanders are a group of amphibians typically characterized by their lizard-like appearance, with slender bodies, blunt snouts, short limbs projecting at right angles to the body, and the presence of a tail in both larvae and adults. All ten ...

, the symbol of King François I, as well as gargoyles and richly decorated façades. * The Château des Valois, an important medieval trading post. * The Saint-Léger church. Church Exterior * The musée d'Art et d'Histoire (art and history museum) * The musée des arts du Cognac (art museum) * The Saint-Gobain glassworks and barrelworks *

Cognac Public Garden Cognac Public Garden (french: links=no, Le jardin public de Cognac) is located in of the heart of the town of Cognac in the departement of Charente, France. It is one of the few English-styled gardens in France open to the general public. The ...

Notable people

* The

glass Glass is a non-crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling (quenching) of ...

maker Claude Boucher, inventor of the glass-blowing machine in around 1880, lived and worked in Cognac * The car manufacturer

Louis Delâge Louis Delâge (22 March 1874 – 14 December 1947) was a French pioneer automotive engineer and manufacturer. Born Pierre Louis Delâge to a family of modest means in Cognac. As an infant he lost the sight in one eye. At the age of 16 he went ...

was born in Cognac in 1874 *

Francis I Francis I or Francis the First may refer to: * Francesco I Gonzaga (1366–1407) * Francis I, Duke of Brittany (1414–1450), reigned 1442–1450 * Francis I of France (1494–1547), King of France, reigned 1515–1547 * Francis I, Duke of Saxe-Lau ...

(king of France between 1515 and 1547) was born in the town's castle in 1494. The town's main square is named after him and a statue of the king, on horseback over his enemies, stands at the centre. * Paul-Emile Lecoq de Boisbaudran, born in Cognac in 1838, discovered the elements

Gallium Gallium is a chemical element with the symbol Ga and atomic number 31. Discovered by French chemist Paul-Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran in 1875, Gallium is in group 13 of the periodic table and is similar to the other metals of the group (aluminiu ...

in 1875 and

Samarium Samarium is a chemical element with symbol Sm and atomic number 62. It is a moderately hard silvery metal that slowly oxidizes in air. Being a typical member of the lanthanide series, samarium usually has the oxidation state +3. Compounds of samar ...

in 1878 * Jean Monnet, one of the founding fathers of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

, was born in Cognac in 1888 and ran the

Monnet Cognac Monnet, also J.-G. Monnet is a brand of cognac that was associated with the Monnet family from 1897 to 1962 and retains its name. The family's most illustrious member Jean Monnet, founding father of European integration, worked at the family firm ...

family-controlled enterprise in the 1920s * The French adult film star and model

François Sagat François Sagat (born 5 June 1979) is a French male List of performers in gay porn films, gay pornographic film actor, model and director. Adult film career At the age of twenty-five Sagat performed in his first adult film under the screen name ...

was born in Cognac. * The French poet Octavien de Saint-Gelais was born in Cognac in 1468

Sport

US Cognac Union Sportive Cognaçaise is a French rugby union club, based in Cognac in the Charente département (Nouvelle-Aquitaine region). They play at the Parc des Sports (capacity 2,800), and wear white and red. They were founded on 2 December 1898 an ...

is the city's

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

team. *Cognac was the start of Stage 19 in the 2007 Tour de France.

Twin towns—sister cities

Cognac is twinned with: * Boala, Burkina Faso *

Bozhou Bozhou () is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Anhui province, China. It borders Huaibei to the northeast, Bengbu to the southeast, Huainan to the south, Fuyang to the southwest, and Henan to the north. Its population was 4,996,844 at th ...

, China * Denison, United States *

Königswinter Königswinter ( ksh, Köningkswinte; Low Franconian: ) is a town and summer resort in the Rhein-Sieg district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Königswinter is situated on the right bank of the Rhine, opposite Bad Godesberg, at t ...

, Germany *

Michalovce Michalovce (; hu, Nagymihály, german: Großmichel, Romani language, Romani: ''Mihalya'', Yiddish language, Yiddish: ''Mikhaylovets'' or ''Mykhaylovyts''; uk, Михайлівці) is a town on the Laborec river in eastern Slovakia. Originally ...

, Slovakia *

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, Scotland *

Pisco Pisco is a colorless or yellowish-to-amber colored brandy produced in winemaking regions of Peru and Chile. Made by distilling fermented grape juice into a high-proof spirit, it was developed by 16th-century Spanish settlers as an alternative ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

* Tovuz, Azerbaijan *

Valdepeñas Valdepeñas is a municipality in the province of Ciudad Real, in the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha, Spain. It is also the seat of the judicial district that covers the localities of Moral de Calatrava, Santa Cruz de Mudela, Viso d ...

, Spain *

Vyškov Vyškov (; german: Wischau) is a town in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 20,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument zone. Administrative parts Vyškov ...

, Czech Republic