Le Cognac de Charles L.98

Charles Leroux was born in Normandy in 1951, in the shadow of Mont Saint-Michel. His father divided his time between long, grueling summers working in the sand and salt under the tourist sun, and tending a small farm with cows and cider apples. His mother worked first in a garment factory, then as a village post officer, all the while helping to keep the family farm afloat.

In 1960, the family sought a new beginning. Like many who came to the Charente in those years, they were welcomed into a region still rebuilding from the devastation of phylloxera. They purchased a farm in Saint-Eugène with cattle, 13 hectares of land, and 1.5 hectares of vines. It was a neighbor from Normandy who had inspired their move, and what sealed the choice was the presence of a pot still on the property. Alexis, Charles’s father, who had distilled his own cider back home, now set himself to learning how to make cognac.

Charles adapted quickly, enrolling in the local school, helping his father, and later assisting his elder brother who had also established himself in Barret. In 1971 he met Monique, a spirited young woman with a motorbike — unusual for the time. They married in 1975, with her parents’ blessing just shy of her eighteenth birthday, and moved into the family home to build their own life together.