Loaded back into the van, we motored on for another twenty minutes of country roads, and pulled into the parking area of Tonnellerie Doreau, the workshop and facility that assembles the oak casks, from forest to barrel.

The French oak trees come from the forests of Limousin and Troncais, which lay Northeast of the district, in the Cognac region. This is the type of porous, breathable quality of wood that provides so much of what is Cognac, quite low in the harsh tannins that can be a little too bitter to a young brandy. Troncais produces a soft, finely grained wood where the tannins are smooth, while Limousin produces a medium-grained wood, a bit harder and prized for the strength and balance it imparts.

Off in the distance on the property were the massive logs which gets everything started. Initially, it gets to the log splitter, a very loud and large machine tool. The cooper was a patient and kind operator of the power tool, showing us an example of how it worked with a real log split. He quickly made us comfortable as he was in good cheer singing something operatic just over the sound of the machine. It was a bit frightening at first, being ten feet away, but we got used to it.

These still-skinned pieces are cut to a certain spec, then carted off to another area of the facility where the table saw operator skins and further cuts them into exact size planks (or staves), then put in large tied bundles and taken back out into the open air for the “drying out of the shook”, stacked to weather-age for 2-3 years, releasing any unwanted substances within the wood when cut fresh. For a moment following the stand-up slice performed by the splitter, Mark asked the cooper to go into Texas (or Paris) chainsaw mode and cut a chip and leave it hangin’ up between the two big logs. Very cool, and Mark caught it on video.

Watching a from-scratch barrel prep was pretty amazing. The cooper used 30 planks, lining up within the confines of a bottom ring (barrel strap) to hold them together. On the last plank, he had to slide it down between the rest of them with some gentle force, but the circular fit was perfect. I couldn’t believe what I saw as they came together like that, right before your eyes, like a form of magic. From this phase, they get turned upside down and slowly rolled over a fire for a determined period of time, for what’s known as the “barrel toasting”. Toasting the inside of the barrel not only heats the staves for softening and bending purposes for the eventual barrel strap over the top, but toasts and therefore darkens the wood on the inside to the correct degree that helps in the aging and tasting complexities of Cognac. Slowly, these wood planks will warm together and bond for life.

From the fire phase, the barrel gets rolled over to the cooper in charge of measuring and centering the spot for the drilling and burning through of the bunghole. The fitting, insertion, and sanding of the barrel covers is followed by some hammering and laser-measuring of the barrel rings/straps, lining both of them up to spec. The barrel goes through a balancing test, as well as some possible light hammering on the inside to smoothen out any small, rough spots. The liquid testing is done for the obvious reasons of creating a water-tight seal with no leakage.

Splitting, cutting, sawing, measuring, fitting, heating, hammering, strapping, sanding, drilling, and testing. It’s all part of the process. Quality control of each piece and of every phase of production, at a cost of about $900 a barrel. Upon our departure, we thanked everyone for their time and allowing us to come in for a visit and education of this time-honored craft, as they were in the middle of another busy day of barrel-making.

We then headed back into town and over to our next stop, the BNIC, Bureau National Interprofessional du Cognac. who sponsored our trip. Introduced to Jerome Durand, Director of Marketing, and Dominique Cornette, Marketing and Communications, we made a quick drive over and around the corner for lunch, cocktails and discussion at the Bistro des Quais, where we were again treated with the Summit Cocktail and appetizers at the start of our dining experience. The cocktail was created by bartenders invited to the International Cognac Summit held in January of 2008. Arriving back to his office in the BNIC building, the guys from Grape conducted a video interview and radio segment with Mr. Durand as the end portion of our visit with them.

Off we went on our first walking tour in the village, starting with a visit to MACO, the Museum des Arts du Cognac. We didn’t do any video or photography in the museum, nevertheless had an enjoyable time looking at all the past-to-present history of this legendary spirit, the village, and its people. After that, we set out on a guided visit to the Old City of Cognac, led by Michel Goubard, Cognac’s Director of the Office of Tourism. It was a sunny and beautiful afternoon out on the walk through the narrow, winding streets of its old town, of which the stonework of its old houses often coated with a black velvet, the work of a microscopic fungus that feeds on alcohol vapors. Each day while we were there, the weather became better and better. Working off some calories and breaking a little sweat felt good, then we strolled over to a nearby park for some rest and relaxation for a spell. Michel showed us a stage and amphitheatre-styled lawn in the distance where they have numerous Spring/Summer events, including the Blues Passions Festival in August and the “Coup de Chauffe” Street Theatre Festival in September. Too bad we were leaving before Sunday !

All of our luggage was in the van and ready to go when we got back to the BNIC headquarters. Before we headed back to Bordeaux later that evening, we were lucky to have just enough time left to trek through the countryside and over to the home and vineyards of Paul Giraud, for a visit with the man and his Cognac, who’s family has been growing grapes since 1665. He created his own brand in 1976.

With only an hour or more, Paul took us out to his vineyards to see his grape vines. His fields, a little over 86 acres in total, surround two sides of his home, and are situated in the heart of the Grande Champagne in the village of Bouteville. Paul was great to talk with, and had a fun, passionate and humorous personality. He talked of the vines, leaves, and fruit, describing them as beautiful girls who need water, nurturing, attention, and energy from the sun to grow proper and strong. A vine who’s leaves are of a rich, green color is getting its nutrients, but the vine next to it or a few feet over, its leaves could be of a lesser shade of green and not quite receiving all that it needs. Even so, when the vineyards suffer, they still produce a good quality. With the soil being the perfect type for growing grapes, the vines are strong and tough, and can handle some weather. We noticed snails on some of the vines, as Paul mentioned that the area was a sea at one time.

Each vine produces many a grape, and that’s a good thing, as one batch of full-grown grapes can yield 1 liter of eau-de-vie, but it takes 10 liters of that to produce 1 liter of Cognac. The terroir is rugged, and you only have to re-plant about every 40 years, or twice in a lifetime. Grape shot their last interview with Paul while we were out in the fields. Heading back to his house and sitting down together in one of the living rooms on the main floor, we did a tasting of his special line. The sun was shining through part of the window, giving us perfect light to view the color-aging of the various selections, as well as the taste! Paul said “Cognac is a combination (or collection) of memories in a bottle. From the past, the present, and into the future”. I couldn’t agree more!

It was so nice to have the time to stop by, worth every minute! Thanks to Paul for taking time out of his busy day, and patient thanks to our van shuttle driver who then took us to the airport hotel in Bordeaux for the night. We arrived just in time to have one last meal together, as my leg of the tour was completed. Nicki and the guys from Grape toured on to some wineries in Bordeaux for the next couple of days, then Nicki took the train back to Paris to visit some friends, before heading back to New York. I flew off the following morning to Amsterdam, and then back to Los Angeles. What a great tour this was. I think I slept about 20 hours in the whole time there !