Le Musee de Arts du Cognac
Place de la Salle Verte
16100 Cognac
Tel: 33(0) 45 32 07 25
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Museum store
The Cognac area has many places to see, from a living history book of France and its architecture: St. Peters Cathedral in Angouleme, the Spa at Saint Saloine, the Arch celebrating the birth of Germanicus in Saintes, the old part of La Rochelle, and many more.
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In the heart of Cognac region, there are cities of Jarnac, Segonzac and Cognac, which gave its name to the renowned eau-de-vie. Cognac lies 465 km from Paris, and 120 km from Bordeaux. The Cognac Delimited Region extends along the banks of the Charente, the wide, beautiful river described by Henri IV as "the loveliest stream in my kingdom." It covers a large part of Charente department, all of the Charente-Maritime, and several districts of the Dordogne and Deux-Sevres.
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Contrary to the column stills used in producing Armagnac, the charentais still is a very simple instrument, directly inspired by the retort system used by chemists and alchemists. It is made up of three parts of copper, "cucurbite" that is above a hearth in which is burned wood, coal or today, gas. And the "chapiteau" or head, which helps to concentrate the vapors and evacuate them as they form, and the "serpentin" or coil, a spiral tube, which is submerged in a vat of water and serves as a coolant. The wine heater, which save energy, come into use in 1857.
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Cognac's aroma can be described in many different terms such as coffee, walnut and apricot.
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To make a barrel head, the cooper must choose 7 to 9 small staves of different lengths in order to be able to trace a circle with a compass with as little waster as possible. For barrels to be used for Cognac, the staves are joined together with wooden dowels. A silver of rush also fits between staves to make sure they are completely watertight.
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In 1892, Claude Boucher, owner of the Saint-Martin glass-making place since 1878, came up with the idea for a machine which would make it possible to automate part of the glass-worker's job.
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Boucher's first machines were up and running in 1894. They produced much ore satisfactory resuts than similar machines invented at the same time in Great Britain, the United States and Germany and were adopted by a large number of glass making factories.
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Cognac label display
The wines of Poitou, La Rochelle and Angoumois, produced from high quality vineyards were shipped to Northern Europe, where they were enjoyed by the English, Dutch and Scandinavians as early as the 13th century. In the 16th century, they were transformed into eau de vie, then matured in oak casks to become Cognac. That was the start of the adventure for a town which was to become the capital of the world's famous trade.
More about Cognac history
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Design of Cognac bottle
Cognac is one of those emblematic products which, throughout the world, evoke a certain idea of "a French style of living."
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Old Cognac cockail advertisement: "Brandy & Soda"
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Old Cognac advertisement displays
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Old Cognac promotional collective display
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Mini Cognac bottle display
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