Many have started to age, bottle and sell their brandies under their own names.

ECONOMIST: Spirits

In the remote hills above Ukiah, a Franco-American partnership called Germain-Robin turns out luxury-priced brandies that regularly whup the grand Cognacs in blind tastings.

FORBES: Days of Wine and Redwoods

It was never for lack of lip-smacking satisfaction that the brandies of Armagnac came to be overshadowed by those of Cognac, 100 miles north.

FORBES: Armagnac