It became an AOC (controlled origin) in 1945 and is produced by winemakers and cellarmasters in the two Charente départements and a few communes in Dordogne. It’s the marriage between grape juice and cognac eau-de-vie from the same vineyard. And nothing else … except skill.
Pineau des Charentes is a singular wine with a plural set of skills
A unique production
During harvest, the grapes are carefully selected to obtain a perfect balance between sugar and acidity and are then pressed. The winemaker adds to the resulting liquid (“moûts”) eaux-de-vie de Cognac that was distilled the previous year in these proportions: ¼ cognac, ¾ moûts.
It’s called “mutage”.
There then follows a long period of aging in wooden barrels.
Pineau Blanc
The star grape varieties for pineau blanc are ugni blanc, colombard, montils, sémillon, red and white merlot, folle blanche and sauvignon.
Pineau rouges et rosés
The main varieties are red merlot, cabernet franc et sauvignon, malbec.
Pineau des Charentes …
… no longer has any secrets from you.
So we’ll tell you how to …
