🍇 Grape brandies

Grape brandies are distillates of wine: under EU rules these are wine spirit (category 4) and brandy (category 5). Brandy must mature for at least a year in oak vessels of 1000 litres or more, or six months in smaller casks, and its strength must be at least 36 % ABV.

Wine is distilled to below 86 % ABV to keep the aroma of the grape, then aged in oak. Cognac is a blend of twice-distilled white wines aged for at least two years in oak casks; Brandy de Jerez matures under the solera system. Brandy may be sweetened up to 35 g/l, but adding alcohol to it is forbidden.

Category 8 is separate: raisin spirit from the Corinth Black or Moscatel of Alexandria varieties. Protected names include Cognac (zones Grande Champagne, Petite Champagne, Borderies, Fins Bois, Bons Bois), Armagnac, Brandy de Jerez, Deutscher Weinbrand, Wachauer Weinbrand, Bulgarian rakias such as Sungurlarska grozdova rakia, and Romanian vinars, including Vinars Târnave.

Cognac comes from Charente, Armagnac from Gascony, where the boundaries of its zone were set in 1909; Spain has Jerez and Penedès, Germany and Austria have Weinbrand, and Peru has pisco.

Why it matters to you. “Cognac” and “Armagnac” are names of a place, while “brandy” without a place is only a category. The age terms of Cognac (VS, VSOP, XO) are set by national rules, not by quality. Caramel is permitted for colour. WHO: no safe level of alcohol exists.

Other sections of this topic: Pomace spirits; Fruit brandies; Whisky; Rum and sugarcane spirits; Mulled wine and fortified wines; Liqueurs; Anise spirits; How spirits are made. All sections are gathered on the “Spirits” page.