Cognac The Seductive Saga of the World's Most Coveted Spirit [Paperback]

Rich in history and admirable scholarship. . . . It's a fine grande champagne of a book, to be savored over and over.
-Patricia Wells, author of The Provence Cookbook
Called the brandy of the gods by Victor Hugo, Cognac is a universal symbol of refinement and quality. In the first comprehensive history of this celebrated drink, Kyle Jarrard charts Cognac's birth in the 1500s and its transformation into the world's most coveted brandy. Along the way, he reveals how Cognac distillers weathered vineyard die-offs, the German occupation, and other challenges over the years-and offers a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at Hennessy, Remy-Martin, Courvoisier, Martell, and other legendary brands.
For any Cognac lover, this fascinating book will make the perfect gift.
Kyle Jarrard (Paris, France) is a senior editor at the International Herald Tribune and author of the highly acclaimed novels Over There and Rolling the Bones.

* “…informative and entertaining…the sort of admirable guide you’d want on hand if you ever visited the region of contemplated buying a bottle…” (Business Traveller, 1st November 2005)

“…a good read…” (Wine International, October 2005)

Cognac isn't just any brandy. Named after the western French town on the Charente River near Bordeaux, only those spirits distilled in the Cognac region may carry that distinction, according to a 1909 French law.
Cognac: The Seductive Saga of the World's Most Coveted Spiritdelivers plenty of factoids about the famed brandy, which has been produced there since the 1500s.
Jarrard is an American journalist and novelist based in France since 1981, when he married into a Cognac-region family.
Today, the four top-selling manufacturers, Hennessy, Remy Martin, Martell, and Courvoisier, control 74 percent of world Cognac sales, which in 2003 amounted to 1.3 billion euros ($1.7 billion). Of 127 million bottlelˆ