Commune

A small village that is often an APPELLATION. In Bordeaux, the communes of Margaux, Pauillac, St.-Julien, and St.-Estèphe are famous appellations. Communes are also the lowest level of administrative division in France, and as such, are the equivalent of incorporated cities in the U.S.

Which group of people below were key players in the development of Cognac?

A. The East Indians

B. The Spanish

C. The Dutch

D. The English

From the end of the Roman Empire through the 16th century, the area surrounding France’s Charente River, which is where Cognac is made, was known for neutral tasting wine, most of it white and low in alcohol. The Dutch who traded in the area for salt (the Cognac region’s other renowned product) began to purchase and ship these wines to England and to other northern countries, despite their disappointment with the wines proclivity to deteriorate during the sea voyage. Their solution eventually was to distill the wines in the Netherlands and then the sell the more durable result which they called burnt wine–brandewijn–eventually anglicized to brandy. And thus sometime in the 17th century, Cognac, the world’s most sought after brandy, was born.

11

The group of AVA’s (American Viticultural Areas) created in Paso Robles just last year. Confused? Let this dashing gentleman explain.

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