The chauffe-vin is a piece of equipment placed between the pot-still and the condensor. The cooling coil runs from the pot-still through the chauffe-vin to the condensor. The heat from the cooling coil is transferred to the wine in the chauffe-vin. In English it is called the preheater and it is a cost efficiency measure. It is not an obligatory part of the system and not all producers use a preheater. Some producers not use it bacause they believe that preheating changes the nature of the wine and consequently that of the eau-de-vie.
