Olivier Poels 5:40 p.m., November 30, 2021
One of the most famous eaux-de-vie in the world owes its existence to the Dutch… It was they who introduced, in the 15th century, a technique that changed everything: distillation.
Initially, it was not a question of producing an alcohol, but of making it possible to preserve the wines of Charente during their transport.
In Charente, wine has been produced since Antiquity. In the Middle Ages, it was popular with Dutch traders who came to collect salt. But this wine, like everyone at the time, travels badly and keeps even less well. It is then a light wine with little alcohol. To keep it, when the wine arrives in Holland, it is distilled (only simple distillation is then mastered). The “brandewijn” (or “brandy”: “burnt wine”) is a great success. To save space, it is distilled on site (the distilleries are made with copper from Amsterdam).
In the 17th century, a new revolution appeared: double distillation, which the French would master better and better.
For transport, the eaux-de-vie are placed in barrels which can be seen to improve their quality.
Finally, in the 18th century, the big houses (the merchants) were born: Martell, Rémy Martin, Delamain, Hennessy ...