1953 The U K B G Guide to Drinks

BRANDY

part of the soil is given over to the production of other farm produce. The vines favoured for the production of Brandy are the Folle Blanche, Saint Emilion and the Colombard, all white grapes. The wine that is produced from these grapes is not particularly good for drinking, except perhaps locally. It is fruity, slightly acid, and rather harsh,if anything, and not altogether pleasant to drink until one acquires taste for it, but it does make the best Brandy. The production of the wine is the same as for most other areas, except that the stalks and pips are not crushed in the operation of extracting the juice. The wine is kept in the barns of the vineyards and cared for up to a period of five years after which it is distilled. The method of distilling is the pot still method, the same as was originally used in the first instance for the production of Brandy, the fires being of wood or charcom. It is interesting to note that in the production of spirits in England, the customs have a lock upon every accessible part of the machinery used in distilling. Not so with the French Excise authorities, they merely lock the fire door when distilling is not in progress, thus they are always aware when production is to start. There are three types of distillers: 1. The small farmers who distil their own wines and for this it is not necessary for them to be licensed. 2. The other farmers who store their wines in a special stores and become professionals and thus licensed. They distil for a firm who are financed by the big distillers. 3 The large distillers themselves who buy from the fanners in all districts and distil themselves at their large distilleries. Cognac is double distilled. The first distillation is to produce what is termed a"BrouilHs , which is in volume, about a third of the original bulk of the wine distilled. 231