c." The Cognac district is
separated into district zones of production, according to the quality of
the spirit which each yields. In the centre of the district, on the left
bank of the Charente, is the _Grande Champagne_, and radiating beyond it
are (in order of merit of the spirit produced) the _Petite Champagne_,
the _Borderies_ (or _Premiers Bois_), the _Fins Bois_, the _Bons Bois_,
the _Bois Ordinaires_, and finally the _Bois communs dits a terroir_.
Many hold that the brandy produced in the two latter districts is not
entitled to the name of "cognac," but this is a matter of controversy,
as is also the question as to whether another district called the
_Grande Fine Champagne_, namely, that in the immediate neighbourhood of
the little village of Juillac-le-Coq, should be added to the list. The
pre-eminent quality of the Cognac brandies is largely due to the
character of the soil, the climate, and the scientific and systematic
cultivation of the vines. For a period--from the middle 'seventies to
the 'nineties of the 19th century--the cognac industry was, owing to the
inroads of the phylloxera, threatened with almost total extinction, but
after a lengthy series of experiments, a system of replanting and
hybridizing, based on the characteristics of the soils of the various
districts, was evolved, which effectually put a stop to the further
progress of the disease. In 1907 the area actually planted with the vine
in the Cognac district proper was about 200,000 acres, and the
production of cognac brandy, which, however, varies widely in different
years, may be put down at about five million gallons per annum. The
latter figure is based on the amount of wine produced in the two
Charentes (about forty-five million gallons in 1905).

GENUINE COGNAC BRANDIES.

(Excepting the alcohol, results are expressed in grammes per 100 litres
of absolute alcohol.)

+-------------------------------------+---------+-----+--------+-------+----------+---------+---------+
| | Alcohol |Total| Non- | | "Higher | | |
| Age, &c. |% by vol.|Acid.|volatile|Esters.|Alcohols."|Aldehyde.|Furfural.|
| | | | Acid. | | | | |
+-------------------------------------+---------+-----+--------+-------+----------+---------+---------+
| 1. _New_ 1904 | 61.7 |