After
spending the last two years sampling Scotland’s finest spirits for our annual
man-trip, this year we dusted off our berets and set out for the south of
France.
Despite
Rick Steves’ warning,* we chose Bordeaux as our base camp for exploring three
different cognac distilleries (in one day) and the adorable St. Emilion, whose
vineyards date back to the second century.
Before
we arrived, most of us didn’t know anything about cognac, which, like
champagne, is named for the region from which it comes. (The same spirit
produced just outside this area is called brandy; champagne produced outside of
the Champagne region is still called champagne.)
We
discovered that although cognac and whisky are produced in a similar manner
(distillation of an alcohol - wine and beer, respectively), the semblance stops
there.
As
opposed to whisky distilleries, which start with raw materials like malts (some
even grow their own), most of the major cognac producers just buy the spirit
directly from the farmers and simply age and blend them.
The
disparity between the tours themselves was also evident: At the Lagavulin
distillery on Isla, we learned about the process from Ewan, who had worked
there for 40 years and got his start as a cooper, whereas most of the cognac
tour guides were contractors not necessarily employed by the parent company.
The
cognac guides definitely knew their stuff, but we still didn’t get an answer
for JR’s infamous methanol question, although one did actually come close). And
despite the differences, we came away with an appreciation for some booze that
was definitely out of our price range.
When
we weren’t sipping on the region’s sweet eau de vie (water of life), we passed
the time by taking turns choosing tracks from our airbnb host’s extensive vinyl
collection, which included everything from Eminem to Bob James (no relation to
Rick), and watching Joseph and Jason perform burpies in their underwear to
AC/DC – pretty much your standard weekend in the French countryside.
(*In
a rant on the best and worst of Europe, Rick Steves said the following about
Bordeaux: “Bordeaux must mean boredom in some ancient
language. If I were offered a free trip to that town, I’d stay home and clean
the fridge. Connoisseurs visit for the wine, and there’s a wine-tourist
information bureau in Bordeaux, which, for a price, will bus you out of town
into the more interesting wine country nearby.” Ouch. I think he might have
changed his mind had he rolled with us.)
