There has been a castle here since the 1100s. It was part of the fiefdom of the knights of Chasteigner de la Roche-Posay, a name to roll around your tongue like a fine cognac. But the Breuil-Hélion de La Guéronnière family, who inherited the castle in the late 18th century, were as much in love with neo-Gothic turrets and flourishes as Walt Disney was a century later. So they tore down the medieval castle and built this house.

In opening her country house as a hotel at the end of 2018, the current owner, Garance Primat, has done something rather radical and quite wonderful. Touring with estate manager Jean-Francois Magnan, I view a wide domain of valleys, fields, streams and farmhouses. There are seven lakes, there are herons, hedgehogs, ducks, otters, deer, foxes and herds of Limousin cows. The children’s adventure playgrounds are little magic kingdoms in themselves. Small wonder that people who stay here for a week or more rarely venture beyond its 1,000 hectares.

The Domaine des Etangs is also as close to self-sustaining as resorts get: the château’s herb and vegetable garden is a kind of horticultural wonderland. The produce helps create a dinner which may be the best summer meal I’ve ever had.

Seated by an outdoor log fire, I finish the trip with a glass of cognac and a think. On the way north, we’d seen the long, teeth-grinding traffic jams building as half of France headed south for its summer holidays. Well, I love Provence, Arcachon and Lacanau too. But the department of Charente, of which Cognac is a small part, is not a place to be sidelined on the long journey south. It’s not dramatic countryside. It doesn’t have the châteaux of the Loire, nor the buzz of Bordeaux. But it has charm in spades and, like its eponymous drink, a taste and depth like no other.

Go further

Click here to learn more about Charente and Cognac

Walking through the gates of Martell is entering three centuries of history. Book tours and tastings here.

Cognac’s ‘other’ product is the Pineau des Charentes aperitif. Have a go at creating your own blend in a secluded hamlet outside Segonzac.