Cognac glossary - GRAPES

Still called "trebbiano toscano", it is  an Italian grape native to Tuscany. It was only after the phylloxera crisis at the end of the 19th century that it imposed itself in the Charente vineyards, replacing the historic Folle Blanche grape variety, which did not support grafting. Quickly, Ugni Blanc imposed itself because it had all the qualities of a grape variety suitable for distillation: productivity, strong acidity, not very aromatic (because an excess of aroma paradoxically produces unbalanced eaux-de-vie).