The vineyards of Cognac are of very ancient date. Like those in the vicinity of Bordeaux, they probably were established even before the conquest of the country by Ceasar.

Authentic documents prove that as early as 1323 wines of these departments were exported from the port of La Rochelle to northern countries, particularly England, Scotland and Scandinavia. Later on the Dutch, who were the greatest voyagers in those days, were accustomed to sail up the river Charente and buy from the farmers the wines on the banks of the Charente, called Borderies.

As a result of this trade, the natives of Cognac and the surrounding district began to plant vines in greater volume and soon there was an overproduction in the neighborhood; huge stocks of wines could find no purchasers. About 1630 it occurred to a few of these producers, who had large quantities of wine on hand, to turn their wines into brandy by the process of distillation, which at that time was supposed to have been invented by the Greeks, but which had seldom been used outside of the apothecary's laboratory for any commercial product. This new idea was found to be not only practicable but profitable. Indeed, the business was so profitable that what at one time had been a surplus in the stock of wine became a deficit, and a tremendous impulse was given to the cultivation of the vine, which rapidly spread over that part of the country suitable for grape growing.