Cognac

Cognac is double-distilled in copper pot stills from thin white wine, then aged in Limousin or Troncais oak, and the ageing has a visible side effect: roughly two per cent of the volume evaporates each year, the part called the angels' share, and a fungus, Baudoinia compniacensis, feeds on the alcohol vapour and coats the cellar walls and nearby buildings in black. Whole streets in Cognac and Jarnac are stained by it. The big houses, Hennessy, Martell, Remy Martin, Camus and Courvoisier in Jarnac, run tours through cellars and blending rooms. The Charente runs through the town and barrel staves were once floated on it.

What you actually see

• The blackened walls - buildings coated by the brandy-feeding fungus.
• The ageing cellars - stacked oak casks losing the angels' share.
• The house tours - Hennessy, Martell, Remy Martin and others.
• The Charente - the river the trade was built along.

When to go

April to October; the big houses run tours year-round but reduce in winter, and distilling season is roughly November to March. Tours book ahead in summer.

Honest expectations

Tours are commercial and end in a shop, with tasting portions small. Prices for the older tours are high. Driving after tasting is a real consideration.

Nearby

Jarnac lies east; Angouleme is northeast.