The Cognac Process Part 2.2 A Small Town
Originally the town Cognac was important as a crossing over the river. In the Middle Ages it became a notable trading centre for salt, the regions first stable export, and then for wine. These provided Cognac with an incomparable network of contacts in Northern Europe, since both depended on markets principally in Britain but also in the Low Countries and Scandinavia.
Local brokers throughout the Saintonge – the region from Angoulême to the sea – would buy the salt or wine on behalf of foreign buyers. The casks were shipped down the Charente to Tonnay-Charente, the tidal limit downstream on gabares, the special barges used for 700 years until well into the 20th century. In the port of La Rochelle they were sold to representatives of foreign buyers.
It was not until the middle of the 19th century that the merchants grew rich enough to hold one or two years of cognac stock. Until then they remained effectively brokers. The growers matured the cognacs and shipped them in casks, the eventual buyers financing the purchase which they sold under their own name.