The area this encyclopedia explores — the Charente and Charente-Maritime, “les Charentes”—is tied together by the eponymous river and produces the world’s most famous brandy, Victor Hugo’s “liqueur of the gods”: cognac.
Why an encyclopedia? To offer different levels of reading. It can be used, like a dictionary, to look up words, or to read an article randomly chosen out of curiosity (What is rancio? What is paradis?).
There are thematic plates and three special sections identifi able by their different paper and layout.
Interviews with artisans, distillers and artists will acquaint you with cognac industry players. The Chronicles are designed for inquisitive readers wishing to learn more about cognac. In the
Selected Quotes section, literature lovers will find some of the most beautiful things ever written about the brandy.
Cognac is a word everybody around the world understands, but much remains to be learned about this beautiful brandy.