Cognac hotels collection

The white stone of Cognac's cellars blackens of its own accord: a fungus feeds on the spirit that evaporates from the casks, the angels' share, and coats walls and roof tiles in a matt soot. The Charente flows past below, slowly; gabares once carried the barrels down it to the estuary. The oak comes from the Limousin, the chalk from the vineyards of the Grande Champagne, a name that speaks of open country rather than of the wine. In damp weather, the whole cellar quarter smells of the cask.