wine is made by a process known as distillation.
This liquor, distilled only once, was called spirit of wine or brandy. Purified by another distillation (or several more), this was then called spirit of wine rectified. The second distillation was made in balneo mariae and in a glass cucurbit, and the liquor was distilled to about one half the quantity.
Varieties of wine brandy can be found across the winemaking world. Among the most renowned are Cognac and Armagnac from southwestern France. In a broader sense, the term brandy also denotes liquors obtained from the distillation of pomace (yielding pomace brandy) or mash or wine of any other fruit (fruit brandy). These products are also called eau de vie (literally water of life).