What do VO and VS on brandy mean?

Brandy is distilled liquor made from fruits by fermentation, distillation and storage. Generally speaking, brandy is made from grapes, while brandy made from other fruits should be named after the fruit, such as calvados and cherry brandy. Brandy, as one of the four largest distilled spirits in the world, is represented by the quality of French brandy. At present, the world's largest output and highest reputation of brandy is French Korneck. Konnek is an ancient town in Charente, France. There are large vineyards and factories everywhere, with an average annual output of 5 million gallons (pure alcohol) of Konnek. Brandy, which is obtained from grapes grown in French Konneko and picked, fermented, distilled and stored locally, is called Konneko, which is a wine named after a place name and has won a high reputation in the world. In some parts of China, the French word "Cognac" is translated into "cognac". Brandy production in China has a long history, but it has not been well developed for various reasons. After the reform and opening up, China's brandy industry has had frequent contacts and exchanges with foreign countries, introduced foreign equipment, technology, product standards and grape varieties, narrowed the gap with foreign countries, better achieved international integration, and the development of brandy industry began to take a turn for the better. Especially in recent years, with the improvement of people's living standards and quality, brandy has been gradually recognized and accepted by people, and the demand for products has increased year by year. At present, the annual output of domestic brandy in China is over 20,000 tons. Many brandy manufacturers, in order to meet the market demand and cater to consumers' consumption psychology, began to improve production technology, introduce advanced production equipment and improve product quality. This has also made great changes in the product structure of brandy in China. Besides producing wine brandy, China X.O brandy brewed by Koenig process has also been put on the market and accepted by consumers. Cognac is located in the ancient city of Cognac on the Charente River in France, which is the center of producing Cognac wine. This kind of brandy is very famous in the world, so the French word COGNAC is known by almost everyone in the world. Even China or Africa is no exception. Cognac is divided into six districts, and the quality of the wine produced is also high or low. The order is as follows: 1. Big champagne, big champagne, champagne 2. Petite champagne small champagne 3. BORDERIES edge 4. Finsbois Plantation 5. Bonsbois High Plantation 6. BOIS, the general public grows all brandy. In wineries, letters are used to distinguish quality. Examples are as follows: E stands for special (special) F stands for fine (good) V stands for very (very good) O stands for old (good) S stands for advanced (good) P stands for pale (pale and old) X stands for extra (extraordinary) cognac. The quality of cognac is superior to other brandies, not only because of the special distillation technology. The French government has very strict regulations, and wine merchants cannot call themselves at will. To sum up, there are the following categories: Samsung cognac: cognac with a storage period of not less than two years; Cognac with a storage period of not less than four years; Napoleon cognac: cognac with a storage period of not less than six years; Cognac with a storage period of more than eight years; How old is a good cognac? A clever drinker said that the best age of cognac is similar to that of women, about 25 to 40 years old, and wine tasting experts agree with this statement. After more than fifty years, all the water in the wine evaporated. Armagnac's Armagnac is second only to Koenig's brandy, which is produced in Armagnac of GERS in the southeast of Bordeaux. The grapes used, such as cognac, are from Saint Emilion and Foer Blanchais. Second, the classification of brandy There are many kinds of brandies in China's market, ranging from ordinary brandies of ten to tens of yuan to high-grade brandies of several hundred or more thousand yuan. Its exquisite packaging and variety are dizzying. Different brandy products vary greatly in price and quality, which is mainly determined by different grades of products. The production cost of high-grade brandy is high, and the price is naturally relatively high. For consumers, it is very necessary to understand the distinction of brandy quality grades if they want to buy brandy. There are three main factors that affect the internal quality of brandy, namely grape variety and quality, distillation equipment and methods, storage conditions and time. Good grape raw materials combined with mature distillation technology can lay the foundation of brandy aroma, and on this basis, the final quality of brandy depends more on storage conditions and storage time. In addition to these factors affecting the internal quality of brandy products, the storage time of brandy in oak barrels is also an important basis for its classification. Generally speaking, the longer brandy is stored in oak barrels, the better the quality. During the long-term storage of original brandy in oak barrels, the aroma components in oak barrels will be extracted, which will make the various components and aroma of wine more harmonious and make the sensory quality of brandy elegant, soft, mature and full. The international classification of brandy is generally based on the year of the wine. Different countries have different regulations on specific scoring methods. In France, three-star brandy is less than four and a half years old and stored in barrels for more than two and a half years. V.O. and V.S.O.P should be stored for at least four and a half years; Napoleon is five and a half years old. For cognac, X.O., EXTRA and Louis XIII only have a long brewing period, and the government has no strict regulations on the year of wine. Drawing lessons from the relevant standards of developed countries such as France, China classifies brandy into four grades in GB11856-1997, namely, super grade (X.O.), excellent grade (V.S.O.P), first grade (V.O.) and second grade. Among them, the minimum age of X.O. is 6 years old, the minimum age of V.S.O.P is 4 years old, the minimum age of VO is 3 years old, and the minimum age of Grade II is 2 years old. Third, the appreciation of brandy brandy is an elegant work of art, and its value is not only reflected in the external nobility, but also in the internal quality. Its appearance is clear and transparent, the color is golden yellow or red gold, and it exudes charming luster; It has harmonious grape variety aroma, aged oak aroma and mellow wine aroma, elegant and rich; The taste is mellow, sweet, delicate, full and long. A good brandy product is the perfect combination of beauty and elegance, sweetness and softness. To truly appreciate the charm of brandy, we must have a correct taste method. Brandy tasting can be roughly divided into three steps, the first is to look at the clarity and color of the wine. High-quality brandy is amber, crystal clear, solemn but not refined. Step two, smell the aroma. Brandy not only has the fruit aroma of grape raw materials, but also the aroma produced by the combination of wine and oak, which is stored in oak barrels all the year round. Although this fragrance can be diluted with water, it can still maintain its original fragrance characteristics. Wine mixed with spices has a floating aroma, is not mellow, and is not stored like wood. After dilution, it will taste bad. High-quality brandy tastes like woody, which is not only soft in the mouth, but also has attractive fresh fruit flavor and elegant and mellow aged flavor, with a harmonious taste and a long aftertaste. By smelling the fragrance, it can be determined that the quality of brandy is 60%. The third and most critical step is the entrance. The first bite is dipped in a small drop with the tip of the tongue, which spreads along the tip of the tongue and then enters the throat. The second bite can be a little more, and further experience the unique feeling of tenderness and mellow. For the vast number of consumers, learning a little knowledge of brandy tasting is very beneficial to identify the quality of brandy and improve the appreciation ability of brandy. Fourth, buy brandy shelves, various brands of French brandy, various brands of Chinese-made brandy, and brandies of various images produced by Sino-foreign joint ventures can be seen everywhere. When consumers buy brandy, what they can see first is the external quality of the product. A good brandy product will first give people a beautiful enjoyment visually. Clear and bright, crystal clear, the color is generally golden yellow or reddish golden yellow, solemn but not delicate. The color and hue of brandy reflect the storage time and quality of brandy to some extent. If liquor is dark red or tile gray, it is a symbol of poor quality or iron pollution. The contents marked on the label of brandy products also provide important information for consumers to choose products that suit them. The first is the name of the product. If the name is other fruit brandy (or X.O., VSOP, etc. ), then this product is not made of grapes. The second is the composition of the product. There is a composition list on the back label of the product. Consumers should see the ingredients clearly when buying and confirm whether the raw material is grapes or other fruits. Third, the product grade. Different grades of brandy have different qualities and different prices. Consumers should choose suitable products according to their personal preferences and consumption levels. Please refer to the introduction of brandy classification above. In addition, when buying brandy, we should recognize the brand name of brandy and try to choose some famous brands and products of large enterprises. These enterprises have mature technology, complete technology and equipment, and better quality. For many brandy lovers, it is also necessary to pay close attention to the relevant announcements and reports of the national authorities on the quality of brandy products, improve their understanding of brandy and increase their understanding of the market.