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Brandy.
by
the
name
Cognac,
Jernac,
Champagne,
&c.
:
the
best
is
made
from
the
grape
named
folle
blanche,
which
only
yields
a
poor
white
wine.
In
good
years,
this
wine
will
produce
a
fifth
of
spirit
at
22°
to
23°,
but
in
bad
years,
nine
or
ten
parts
of
wine
are
required
to
produce
one
of
Brandy.
The
Brandy
distilled
from
the
red
grape
is
inferior
to
the
folle
blanche,
and
does
not
possess
the
bouquet
of
genuine
Cognac.
Cognac
Brandy,
as
the
Brandy
of
the
Charente
is
called,
owes
its
excellence
to
the
care
exercised
in
fermenting
the
wine,
that
it
be
not
impregnated
with
an
acrid
oil
which
is
con-
tained
in
the
skin
of
the
grape,
a
drop
of
whicli
would
suffice
to
deteriorate
a
large
quantity
of
good
Brandy
spirit.
It
is
this
oil
that
renders
eau
de
vie
cle
marc
(or
Brandy
distilled
from
the
lees
and
refuse
of
the
grape,
after
wine-making)
so
un-
pleasantly
coarse
and
unpleasant
in
flavour.
The
wine-growers
in
the
Brandy
districts
of
Charente
carry
on
the
distillation
themselves,
nearly
each
vine-land
being
furnished
with
stills
and
the
necessary
apparatus,
and
the
utmost
pains
are
taken
to
make
the
Brandy
of
the
greatest
degree
of
purity.
From
whatever
vine
it is
obtained,
it
is
at
first
perfectly
colourless,
or
white
Brandy.
The
best
produce
of
the
still
is
known
as
eau
de