One of the world's most coveted terroirs, the region and town of Cognac, just in the Charente region of southwestern France, three hours away from Paris by train (and also, by the way, the birthplace of 16th-century King François I) is a typically charming medieval bit of businees with narrow winding streets, the towers of St Jacques' gate, and many large 18th-century houses made of stone typically coated with "black velvet" or torula compniacensis, a microscopic fungus that also graces the walls of the region's Cognac cellars. And interestingly, Cognac is no longer... keep reading