Today was one of our most anticipated of the trip. A trip to the Cognac appellation, specifically the Camus chateau. As readers can tell from our blog, we have been on a lot of excursions over the years, but we are hard pressed to remember one that was better.

The visit began with a hosted lunch complimented with a cognac aperitif. Afterwards, we were treated to a fascinating discussion of the history and production of the chateau and cognac in general. Did you know that the French do not drink a lot of cognac? Apparently they view it as something of a mystery and reserved for the elite.

After learning as much as anyone possibly could in the span of an hour, we were taken to a tasting/blending room. There we were given 4 typical blending wines to taste and contemplate our own blend. The experience was made all the more special by having two delightful ladies across the tasting table from us that proclaimed, “I don’t like cognac” at the onset. Thirty minutes later, they were slurring their speech, so apparently they acquired a taste pretty quickly.

Once we had our percentages we headed to the casks and filled up our glass cylinder and then to our bottle. The fine people of Camus then sealed our bottle and packaged it in a lovely case. We were instructed to wait at least 3 months for our blend to truly become one before cracking it open. We will see about that.