3 questions to Thierry Archereau

Published on 07/02/2025

Thierry Archereau  is a consultant and trainer. He is an instructor at the CIDS in the following training courses 
Charentaise distillation: a qualitative approach, tasting, conservation , Level 2: discovering whiskies and Implementing quality, health and safety regulatory monitoring in the wine and spirits industry 

1- Have there been any changes in the heating strategy and the way distillation is carried out in recent years as a result of the increase in energy and gas bills in particular?
Over the last twenty years or so, blown-air gas burners with flames, which consume less energy for stills, have become widespread, resulting in a reduction in gas consumption of around 10 to 15%. Direct wine pre-heating with tubular or plate heat exchangers has also become widespread in recent years, again with a significant reduction in gas consumption depending on the desired wine heating temperature.

2 - Do these changes in heating technique have an impact on the quality or profile of the eaux-de-vie?
The history of the use of forced-air gas burners shows that this has no negative impact on the quality of the eaux-de-vie. The use of heat exchangers requires good hygiene in their use and compliance with the preheating temperatures specified in the specifications of Cognac region merchants in order to guarantee the desired quality and profile of the eau-de-vie.

3 - Distillation with or without lees: what are the trends in the Cognac region?‘Distillation with lees represents around 75% of the volume of wine distilled. This percentage remains relatively stable, as it corresponds to the different distillation specifications of operators in the Cognac sector. Distillation with or without lees allows us to obtain Cognac eaux de vie with a different profile - essentially linked to the fatty acid ester content - and to respond to the different tastes of consumers’.