Cognac trip for Wine & Management Programme students

Each year, the students of the Wine & Management Programme have the chance to delve into the heart of the Cognac region to discover the history of the appellation, the terroir, the economy, industry structure and secrets of production.

For three days, five producers welcome the programme's students, accompanied by Mr Franck Ramage, head of the programme, Mr Ben Preston, translator, and Mr David Boileau, Cognac ambassador with the Bureau National Interprofessionnel du Cognac (BNIC).

The first day, Mr David Boileau unveile the secrets of the Cognac appellation, giving students a better understanding of the history and the specifics of Cognac, from its production to tasting. They then had the opportunity to taste the Tesseron Extrême cuvée, a blend of more than 100 year old Cognacs. A unique experience!

The second day, the group start by visiting Cognac Delamain. Delamain is one of the oldest names in the business, and has been in Jarnac since 1824. The Delamain Cognac House is synonymous with tradition. Delamain is specialised in the maturation of top quality spirit, basing its business on traditional, artisanal Cognac.

The next visit is to Frapin in Segonzac. Located in Grande Champagne at the Château de Fontpinot, the estate of the Frapin family was founded in 1270. The family farms more than 240 hectares respecting traditions, taking into account of known and controlled parameters such as the biology of the vine and its parasites, climatic conditions, soil etc

The group then tour the estate of Hennessy Cognac, whose distillery was founded by Richard Hennessy in 1765. Students were especially interested by Hennessy's desire to innovate.

To round off the day, students watched barrels being engraved at the Doreau cooperage.

On the third day, Mr David Boileau do a presentation of Cognac’s economy and trade structure for students. In the early 2000's, sales boomed, thanks mainly to the American and Chinese markets. Interestingly, 5 bottles of Cognac are consumed every second. However, Cognac represents only 1% of world spirit sales.

The group then visit Remy Martin, where students are treated to a presentation of their knowledge and passion for Cognac. The visit was followed by a tasting of several cognacs (XO and VSOP), along with macaroons and appetizers.

The students continued with a discovery of Paul Giraud Cognacs, a sanctuary and an invaluable opportunity for them to taste the unique, the crème de la crème of brandies, but also to discover outstanding savoir-faire, a heritage of tradition.

The group finish the trip by visiting De Luze Cognac. Since 1640, the Boinaud family has been producing Cognacs in strict compliance with the demanding Cognac appellation.
This trip to Cognac is an opportunity for students to learn about Cognac from vineyard to glass: distillation, maturation, cooperage, blending and bottling.

Every year, students are given the opportunity to follow different journeys of discovery of the region, its estates and producers.