Distillation
The distillation of Cognac Pasquet combines tradition and innovation, creating exceptional eaux-de-vie. A meticulous process in copper stills, preserving the essence of the grapes for a refined sensory experience.
« THE STORY
of a passion... »
In 1970, Jean-Luc first assisted Henri, his Uncle Albert’s former employee who was very close to taking his retirement. At that time, the distillery housed a 500L still installed on the estate right after World War I.
By 1970, the venerable wood and charcoal-burning still had already been churning out its famous nectar every winter for the past 50 years. Jean-Luc would use it for another 18 years until its retirement.
In 1989, my father-in-law decided to install a new 2000L gas-burning still in order to distill for friends and neighbors. It is the still we use today. We have added a computer-controlled system in order to help us achieve consistent quality in our distillates.
The algorithm programming also allows Jean-Luc, who continues to distill with us, to experiment in his quest to rediscover some of the past’s marvels. Today, many stills of the region are entirely automated. However, we prefer to keep our manual interventions for the delicate phases of distillation.
« The principles
of Cognac
distillation »
The make-up of wine for distilling cognac, in general, consists of 90% water, 10% ethyl alcohol, and trace amounts of over 600 different substances that give this alcohol its color, smell, and taste.
The purpose of distillation is to recover the essence of the wine, namely its alcohol and aromatics, by separating them from its water and minerals. To do this, only one type of still can be used: a Charentais pot still. It is actually quite a rudimentary distillation system. It consists of a boiler, a head, surmounted by a swan’s neck which extends into a condensing coil immersed in a container of cold water.
« wine brought
to a boil »
During the first distillation, the boiler is filled with wine and lees which are brought to a boil, the vapors are culled in the head and then the different elements pass into the swan’s neck according to their volatility and thus, a first alcohol called “brouillis” is obtained, between 27 and 33% alcohol by volume depending on the percentage alcohol of the wine. When there is no longer any alcohol in the wine, the first distillation is complete. The boiler is emptied of the stillage.
The “brouillis” is put back into the still for what we call the “Bonne Chauffe” (the good distillation in French). A new, more concentrated, alcohol flows from the still. It must be cut into 4 parts: first the heads, 0.5 to 1% of the volume of the brouillis, then for 6 hours the “heart”, or the future cognac, is carefully recovered in a basin, its percentage alcohol is about 71%, and nothing is wasted, so after the heart is cut out, the remaining alcohol called the “seconds” is diverted into another basin.
« A quest for
excellence... »
The principle seems simple, but the distiller’s work is complicated by many required and necessary parameters for obtaining a beautiful cognac eau-de-vie. To learn more…you must come see for yourself.
We are vintners and we want our eaux-de-vie to reflect the terroir of our vines. To do so, we constantly experiment and learn from our trials. A lifetime is not enough to understand the intricacies and master the art of distilling. Our aim is to reveal the
We seek to reveal the essence of our wines and their terroir. Our quest to do so and for excellence unites us at the still every winter.
