On Saturday 17 October 2026, from 2pm to 7pm, the Communauté d’Agglomération Royan Atlantique (CARA) and the association Les Savoir-faire du Cognac are inviting the public to discover the area’s living heritage. The programme features the chance to meet practitioners, demonstrations, discussions and a tasting, all centred on skills that are handed down from generation to generation and continue to evolve in the hands of the women and men who keep them alive.
Organised to mark the International Day of Intangible Cultural Heritage, the event will place particular emphasis on the close ties between the vine, cognac and the trades associated with it.
It is free and open to all, subject to availability, and will take place in two parts, first in Chenac-Saint-Seurin-d’Uzet and then in Cozes.
From vine to cognac: living traditions
From 2pm to 3.30pm – at Domaine Le Champ des Vignes
The day will begin at Domaine Le Champ des Vignes, a wine-growing estate in Chenac-Saint-Seurin-d’Uzet run by the Mossion family.
This first session will focus on vine-growing practices and knowledge of the vine: observing the environment, adapting one’s work to the cycle of the seasons, drawing on experience built up over time and passing knowledge on from one generation to the next.
The discussions will also offer a clearer understanding of the various stages that link work in the vineyard to the making of cognac. It is a chance to discover a living heritage founded as much on knowledge as on practice and experience.
From 4pm to 7pm – at Château de Théon: techniques, materials and craftsmanship
The second part of the day will take place at Château de Théon in Cozes, with a series of demonstrations and the chance to meet local practitioners.
Wood, metal, paper, vines, traditional fishing and the ageing of eaux-de-vie: these materials, techniques and forms of knowledge all reflect the richness of the area’s intangible cultural heritage.
Tonnellerie Baron: where the cooper’s craft meets the cellar master’s expertise
One of the afternoon’s highlights will be a demonstration by Xavier Baron, managing partner of Tonnellerie Baron, covering the main stages in making a cask for ageing cognac.
Selecting the wood, bending, hooping, toasting the staves: every stage calls for precise knowledge and a practised hand. The demonstration will reveal how the cooper works with the material, studies it and adjusts each movement to give the cask its shape.
This session will also be an opportunity to highlight the essential role of the cask in the maturation of cognac. Cooperage is about far more than making a container: it is an integral part of the chain of skills that contribute to the development and character of eaux-de-vie.
Through this demonstration, Tonnellerie Baron will help the public discover a craft in which knowledge of wood, mastery of fire, precise handiwork and experience are passed down through the generations.
Other demonstrations
From 4pm, visitors will also be able to meet:
- Audrey Normandin-Mercier, director of the Normandin-Mercier cognac house, who will discuss practices relating to the ageing of eaux-de-vie and her experience with cognac aged at sea;
- Jean Ladoire, cutler and art metalworker at the workshop La Fleur du Lys and a member of the Compagnons du Devoir craft guild, who will demonstrate metalworking techniques and explain how craft skills are passed on;
- Guillaume Scoazec of Marbré Studio, who will give a demonstration of ebru and paper marbling, from preparing the bath to transferring the patterns onto paper;
- Patrick Bellouard, president of the Carrelets charentais association, who will present the practices associated with carrelets – the fishing huts on stilts, with large square dip nets, that line the Charente-Maritime coast – and with traditional fishing in the area. A miniature carrelet will give younger visitors in particular a chance to see how it works.
At 5pm: “Les Causeries du cognac”
The day will continue at 5pm with “Les Causeries du cognac” (Cognac Conversations), a discussion exploring how knowledge, professional skills and social practices are passed on, evolve and keep the area’s traditional crafts alive.
Éliane Ciraud-Lanoue, vice-president of CARA with responsibility for heritage and cultural outreach, will open the session and outline CARA’s commitment to the study, transmission and promotion of intangible cultural heritage.
Vanessa Martin Ferey, director of the association Les Savoir-faire du Cognac – an NGO accredited under UNESCO’s 2003 Convention – will look at cognac’s traditional know-how as intangible cultural heritage: knowledge, professional skills, social practices and modes of transmission.
Audrey Normandin-Mercier will talk about the expertise involved in ageing eaux-de-vie and share her experience of maturing cognac at sea.
Philippe Raffoux, vine nurseryman and owner of Pépinière Raffoux, will talk about the skills involved in vine nursery work, from propagating plant material through to renewing the region’s vineyards.
Finally, Xavier Baron will bring a cooper’s perspective to this chain of skills. He will describe the knowledge and techniques involved in making casks, as well as the role played by the wood, the toasting and the cooper’s work in maturing cognac.
His talk will serve as a reminder of how the cask forms a true bridge between the cooper’s craftsmanship and the expertise of those who produce and age eaux-de-vie.
From 6pm: a tasting to extend the experience
The day will end with a guided tasting led by Guillaume Le Dorner, mixologist and owner of Bar Luciole in Cognac.
Through his creations, he will explore contemporary ways of enjoying cognac, aromatic balance and how mixology today helps to pass on and reinterpret this living heritage.
It is a way of rounding off the day by showing that heritage skills are not frozen in time: they are passed on, they evolve and they continue to inspire new practices.
A living heritage to discover and pass on
From vine to cask, from metalwork to fishing techniques, from marbled paper to the ageing of eaux-de-vie, the day will showcase the diverse skills that shape the area.
Tonnellerie Baron’s participation is very much in keeping with this spirit: by opening the doors to his trade and showing the cooper’s craft in action, Xavier Baron will help visitors understand everything that goes into mastering a material, working with precision and passing on experience.
Join us on Saturday 17 October 2026 to discover these skills first-hand from the people who practise them and pass them on.
Practical information
Saturday 17 October 2026 – 2pm to 7pm
2pm–3.30pm: Domaine Le Champ des Vignes, 58 chemin des Cormes, 17120 Chenac-Saint-Seurin-d’Uzet
4pm–7pm: Château de Théon, 17120 Cozes
Free admission, subject to availability.
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