Vessels of joy! Cognac is a famous drink, but so is an intoxicating and charming medieval French town

A few years ago, a friend suggested we go to Portugal to watch England play an important football match. After a disastrous save by a schoolboy, England lost the game and Nigel said: “I think we need a brandy.”

So we found a hip bar, ordered something and then Nigel started swirling the amber spirit around his glass like he was a real connoisseur. It seems he knew little more about this famous ghost than I did. So we find ourselves in Cognac, where we are joined by Johnny, a mutual friend, who also does not distinguish his VSOPs from his XOs.

Lads on Tour has never been my thing, but this is a completely different experience.

“The accommodation is the Hotel Chais Monnet & Spa,” says Mark of the city. Above you can see guests tasting cognac at the hotel

We sip instead of swallow, with history, tradition and craftsmanship in the heady mix. And within 24 hours we were fully registered as a member of the Cognac fan club.

The city is a cocktail of 16th and 17th century palaces; half-timbered houses of a century or two earlier; a castle where King Francois I was born in 1494 (and is still a local hero); the 12th-century Saint Leger church (a former Benedictine priory) and an iron-roofed food market.

Cognac (20,000 inhabitants) is located about 90 minutes from Bordeaux in South-West France. It became famous thanks to the salt trade, but by the mid-18th century the main industry was cognac, well, cognac.

Today there are more than 280 cognac houses, some as big as Remy Martin and Hennessy, others producing only a few hundred bottles a year. But all from the grape “ugni blanc”, which provides the perfect “eau de vie” (water of life) due to its high acidity and low sugar content.

Many of the houses offer guided tours for around £15 – and if you take one, I promise you’ll never look at a bottle of cognac the same way again.

The attention to detail, the ceremony and the reverence for the product is sobering.

The accommodation is the Hotel Chais Monnet & Spa, a former distillery founded in 1838.

While the original distillery buildings remain, there are all kinds of modern touches, especially at the back of the property, where a black glass structure with rusted metal pipes on the sides soars skyward.

The spa and indoor/outdoor pool are located in the basement of this new building, while the lower floors have been converted into restaurants, one of which, Les Foudres, already has a Michelin star. But perhaps the hotel’s most striking feature is the rooftop bar, which offers great views of the city.

The bedrooms have a peaceful, Scandinavian atmosphere and the staff are full of enthusiasm. One of them, Jean, offers to drive us into the country to visit a small balsamic vinegar producer – and does so in a lime green 1978 Citreon 2CV convertible.

Johnny and I sit in the back with Nigel as co-pilot and revel in stories about his French exchange at school 50 years ago.

Occasionally, he acknowledges admiring glances from other drivers with a regal wave. “Une belle voiture,” shouted a pedestrian. And it is tres belle, but perhaps not quite as beautiful as the rows of impeccably tended vines, punctuated by occasional fields of corn and sunflowers.

Hotel Chais Monnet & Spa is a former distillery founded in 1838. While the original distillery buildings remain, there are all sorts of modern embellishments, reveals Mark

At the back of the Hotel Chais Monnet & Spa, a black glass structure rises into the sky, with rusted metal pipes on the sides

The hotel’s spa and indoor/outdoor pool date back to the 19th century and are located in the basement of a modern new building.

Vinegar distillery Le Baume de Bouteville is a revelation for all three of us, especially when we are invited to add a few drops of ten-year-old balsamic vinegar to freshly harvested oysters, accompanied by a delicious light Chardonnay – all at 11am .

Like brandy, the vinegar is made from Ugni Blanc grapes and aged in oak barrels, but unlike brandy, it is heated to a temperature that prevents it from becoming alcoholic.

We express concern about this year’s harvest due to the extremely dry weather, but one member of the team assures us that the vines have roots that go 15 meters deep. “Nature gives us what we want,” she says.

Later, we dine spectacularly at Bistro de Claude in the old town before walking to Hennessy’s headquarters, where we take a group tour – and are enchanted at the end.

Rooms at Hotel Chais Monnet & Spa have a quiet, Scandinavian atmosphere, reveals Mark

Pictured is the 1838 Jazz Bar at Hotel Chais Monnet & Spa. The hotel offers double rooms from €260, room only

“Cognac cleansed our souls in a special way,” says Mark about his visit to the city

We learn that the barrels are French oak, which must be at least 80 years old, and that no glue or nails enter the construction; The double distillation process of each harvest – which takes place in September and October – must be completed by March 31 of the following year under strict appellation rules, and we’re told the black layer in the cellars and on the sides of buildings in the city is not dirt not, but mold that develops by evaporation from the barrels.

We also visit Martell, the oldest brandy house in the world (founded in 1715), which was bought by Seagram in 1988. We are led through a maze of arched tunnels until we meet two “master tasters” who lead us into a dark cellar. .

A series of lights slowly turn on, revealing a super-modern structure with a raised central podium with a long white table. We are asked to sit in front of a row of small glasses filled with different types of cognac.

The Senior Master Taster calls for silence and asks us to prepare our senses for what is to come. We observe the thinness of the glasses; we admire the rich color; We smell the flavors and finally we taste.

“We have to respect the soil, the vineyards and the experience of previous tasters. They are all part of the mixing process,” he says.

I look at Nigel and Johnny – and I have rarely seen such concentration on their faces. It may be fleeting, but in an extraordinary way cognac cleansed our souls.