Winegrowers :
There are more than 4,500 people cultivating approximately 75,000 hectares of vines in Charente.
Cognacs, we must not forget, comes from the vines that grow only in the six growing districts (crus) of the appellation. The winegrowers seek acidic wines with a low alcoholic content for the distillation process.
To this end, they prune, bind up and even thin out the leaves before harvesting the grapes, in ordert to make the wine. They may also be distillers and may open the doors of their estates to the increasingly numerous visitors and cognac lovers from around the world who come to discover the secrets of the great eau de vie of Charente.
Some trading houses refer to the winegrowers as ‘deliverymen’ since most of them produce under contract for one or more of these houses. However, they may also market all or part of their production in bottles.