170 1 year, France was involved in a Spanish war. During this period, the sales of grape distilled liquor plummeted, and a large number of stocks had to be stored in oak barrels. However, it was this accident that produced brandy. After the war, people found that brandy stored in oak barrels was really wonderful, mellow and delicious, with rich aroma, crystal clear color, amber-like golden yellow, so noble and elegant. At this point, the embryonic form of brandy production technology-fermentation, distillation and storage came into being, which also laid the foundation for the development of brandy.
Brandy originated in France. /kloc-in the 20th century, the wines produced in cognac have been sold to European countries, and foreign merchant ships often come to the coastal ports of Charente province to buy their wines. /kloc-Around the middle of the 6th century, in order to facilitate the export of wine, reduce the space occupied by the shipping cabin and the tax to be paid for a large number of exports, and also to avoid the deterioration of wine caused by long-distance transportation, the wine merchants in Ganyi Town distilled and concentrated the wine and exported it, and then the manufacturers in the importing country diluted it with water in proportion and sold it. This kind of wine made from distilled liquor is the early French brandy. At that time, the Dutch called this wine "Brandewijn", which means "burnt wine".
/kloc-At the beginning of the 0/7th century, other parts of France began to follow the example of distilled wine in Cognac town, and gradually spread from France to wine-producing countries in Europe and even the world. In a.d. 170 1 year, France was involved in the "war of succession to the Spanish throne" and French brandy was also banned. Wine merchants must store brandy at an appropriate time. They made oak barrels from the oak rich in Conek town and stored brandy in them. 1704 after the war, the wine merchants unexpectedly found that the original colorless brandy turned into a beautiful amber color, and the wine did not deteriorate, and the flavor was stronger. Since then, aging in oak barrels has become an important production procedure of cognac. This production process has also spread rapidly to all parts of the world.
After AD 1887, France changed the packaging of brandy for export from single barrel to barrels and bottles. With the improvement of product packaging, the value of cognac has also increased, and the sales volume has steadily increased. According to statistics, the annual sales of cognac exported at that time had reached 300 million francs.
Chinese history
Brandy production has a long history in China. Needham, a famous British doctor who specializes in the history of Chinese science, once published an article that brandy should have originated in China. "Compendium of Materia Medica" also records: "Those who burn grapes and Daqu take dozens of pounds, brew them, steam them, and receive their drops with utensils. The ancients made it in the western regions, and in the Tang Dynasty, it broke Gaochang, and then it was obtained. " However, it was not until the establishment of Changyu Grape Brewing Company, the first national wine enterprise in China, that domestic brandy really developed. Mr Zhang Bishi really contributed to the development of wine in China. The establishment of the underground wine cellar alone can be described as "magnificent"-the wine cellar is more than one meter below sea level and seven meters deep, and has been firmly rooted in the white sand beach for nearly a hundred years. The wine cellar was built from 1895 to 1905. It took ten years to rebuild three times. A combination of local and foreign architectural methods was adopted. Since then, brandy, like this wine cellar, has laid a solid foundation in China.
19 15 The domestic brandy "Kaya" won the gold medal at the Pacific World Expo, and China has its own high-quality brandy brand, so Kaya brandy was renamed as Gold Brandy.
But brandy is "foreign wine" after all, and it takes a long time to be infiltrated and submerged before it can be accepted by Chinese people. Moreover, the technology of brandy is complex and the brewing cost is high, so the price is higher than that of liquor, and the production scale of brandy has not been large.
After the 1980s, the reform and opening up opened the door to the outside world, and ideas and articles headed by the word "foreign" were quickly accepted in China. The rapid influx of imported brandy into the domestic market has not only impacted the domestic brandy market, but also developed the domestic understanding of brandy and domestic brandy production, and the output of brandy has expanded year by year.
On April 2 1, the first International Brandy Blind Fair hosted by china alcoholic drinks association was held in Guangzhou. Remy martin, Martell, Changyu Kaya, Pepsi-Cola and Hennessy ranked in the top five in the evaluation of V.S.O.P blind products; Remy martin, Hennessy, Pepsi-Cola, Martell and Master Louis rank in the top five, and Changyu Kaya ranks sixth in X.O. From the blind evaluation results, domestic brandy shows a strong development momentum.
Homemade brandy
Because brandy is expensive and there are few kinds of brandy in China, most winemakers prefer domestic brandy. Grapes are fermented and distilled by "3D distiller", then adjusted to 42 degrees, and then stored in oak barrels for several months. You can drink brandy. Of course, oak barrels are also more expensive. You can add oak chips and soak them in wine for several months before you can drink brandy.