Category: News

The weather has again dominated the news in the Charente, The long dry summer spell has meant the grapes have failed to fill adequately for a really good harvest. This is a particularly rare occurrence as it coincided with lots of rain after the flowers had set and the grapes started to form, which led to difficulties with disease from mildew and rot. This meant that the vines had to be sprayed regularly to prevent disease spreading, but then came the sun!

The summer just got hotter and drier and the long period of hot sunshine that followed was initially what we all needed,. But you can have too much sun and the current predictions on the grape yield is likely to be between 15 – 25% down on last year. This news is not what we want to hear especially, with the demand for young eau de vie being so high. We will keep our fingers crossed!

The Charente region produces some exceptionally fine Pineau’s, which are a real treat if you’ve never tried it before. Some of our very old rare vintage Cognacs also originate in this region. So whether your budget is under £20 or over £10,000, we hope you’ll enjoy drinking the fruits of previous years’ more abundant grape harvest.

Move to develop easier International shipments

Over the years we have gradually expanded our stores and offices but with the potentially massive markets in China and the Far East developing,  we have decided to ship to these markets direct from where the cognacs are made. Sales of cognacs to China have grown massively in the last few years and we have had many enquiries for our Hermitage cognac range. Our facility in France will be associated alongside one of our key distributors near Segonzac in the very heart of Grande Champagne which is the top cru of Cognac.

The opening of the company in France will enable us to handle the taxation and duty more easily, thus avoiding shipping through UK bonding facilities, saving both cost and time. It will enable us to load larger shipments and send them direct to their destinations – this will be particularly attractive to the Far East markets. Initially the facility will be just offices and stores for holding the cognacs, but this gives us the opportunity to develop and install much larger tanks for holding cognacs. When shipping larger orders to the Far East, the need for holding thousands of litres of cognac becomes critical. We measure and buy cognac by the hectoliter of pure spirit, that is to say 100 litres at 100% alc. Of course it is never at that strength, but for taxation purposes it is essential we know how much alcohol we are moving at any one time. One hundred litres of pure spirit is the equivalent of 357 70cl bottles of cognac at 40% alc. So, if as hoped we are able to ship full containers – which are the equivalent of 900 cases of 12 bottles – we will require more than 2800 litres of pure spirit or 7000 litres at 40% – a not insignificant quantity!

Cognac distributors in China are failing to obtain sufficient stocks to fulfill demand. Many producers in Cognac are under pressure to supply valuable stocks to major negoçiants for blending in VSOP, XO blends. The shortage of supply is forcing prices up and leading to higher costs of new cognacs. Thousands of distillers all over the region are being asked to supply even younger cognacs for blending with inevitable loss of quality. Industry body the Bureau National Interprofessionel du Cognac (BNIC) said more than five bottles were sold every second in 2011, the total number of bottles sold rose by 6.4% to 162.9 million.

The Far East, which accounted for more than one-third of demand, was the biggest and fastest-growing market, with volumes up 14.4%. Sales in China alone rose by 20%, the BNIC figures reveal. Growth in Europe was more modest, with the region’s volume sales edging up by 0.4% to 46.9m bottles, while demand in North America rose 3.2% to 50.8m bottles.

Speaking to Reuters, Rémy Cointreau chief executive Jean-Marie Laborde spoke of his optimism for the coming year and his belief that the recovering US market coupled with the rapid growth in Asia will help counteract the continuing economic struggles in Europe. Laborde said that sales in the October-December period in particular had exceeded expectations, mainly due to increased Cognac shipments ahead of the Chinese New year. Is big brand optimism good for cognac? Certainly not for quality!

People are starting to frequent bars, clubs and restaurants in the UK increasingly more, often leaving the on-trade well placed to capitalise on “austerity fatigue”, according to new figures.

The Zolfo Cooper Leisure Wallet report, the biannual barometer of the Leisure industry, revealed that the frequency of visits to leisure establishments has increased despite average spend-per-visit continuing to drop. The increase is seen across the board, the first time any increase has been seen in the three main areas of leisure spending examined by the leisure Wallet since launching in summer 2010. However the spend per visit continues to drop in line with falling incomes across the country.

Over the year the national average household income across a sample of 3,000 consumers fell by £640 to £30,584. In total 48% of those interviewed said that their disposable income had decreased, while just 6% reported an increase. Despite this, visits are on the rise, suggesting a behavioral shift and recognition by consumers that if they spread their leisure spend; they can start going out more.

Over the last year drinkers have increased their visits to pubs and bars by to an average of 4.6 visits a month from 4.3 a month in summer 2011 and visits are even up on the 4.5 visits at the same time last year. However the current National spend per visit is now £14.69, a drop of 2.6% from the last report and 9.5% last year when the figure was £16.24.

The Cognac Masters, held every November has become to us something of a ritual since, Hermitage Cognacs have enjoyed very great success over the years at the competition.

Many of you will know that this year we won three Masters Medals, as well as the Cognac Grand Master for the sheer quality of our cognacs. One of the three medals went to the Hermitage 1988 Grande Champagne from Ambleville, a light and delicate cognac with great style. This cognac will be made available from the 1^st May. It is the very essence of quality and a worthy Masters winner.

The start of the year is always a flurry of high expectations in the drinks business with Exhibitions in Germany and Italy, followed in the UK by the London show at the Excel Centre in May and this year by Vinexpo the big trade show in Hong Kong.

Vinexpo changes every year between Bordeaux and Hong Kong, and this year it is sold out by more than 500 square metres. Indeed, Hong Kong is fast becoming the centre for Asian drink sales exhibitions with people travelling from all over Asia to visit and see the finest drinks available from the most luxurious alcoholic drink suppliers of fine wines and spirits.

The German exhibition, Prowine, is fast becoming recognised as one of the best shows, but Vinitaly in the beginning of April is also highly regarded. The Hong Kong Wines and Spirits Exhibition will wind up the year in early November, where again the Conference and Exhibition Centre is expected to be packed to the limits.

Brandyclassics will have a stand at the Hong Kong Wines and Spirits Exhibition in November, when we hope to greatly expand Chinese sales.

Exceptional Prices for Cognacs and Wines

It seems that there is an insatiable demand for high quality wines and spirits at auction houses around the world, especially those in Asia who are not only experiencing 100% sales but also at record prices.

Last September a world record was set in Hong Kong for a bottle of 1858 cognac which sold for US$156,700, whilst more recently at Sothebys in London, Asian buyers pushed the Top 10 lots comfortably over their high estimates. Bidding was particularly strong on-line, accounting for an increase of 15% of sales against 16% in the room.

Sales of wines at Sothebys in Singapore recently achieved US$8m and included an American collection which contained a case of 1982 Pètrus for US$65,950, three double magnums of 1982 Lafite for US$56,000 and a case of 1982 Lafite for US$36,600. Bidding was very strong in all the top lots.

This year Bonhams in Hong Kong will be auctioning a bottle of 1888 (triple 8) cognac at their sale in May, this is a highly sought after cognac and it may achieve another record.

Watch this space!

What a turn up for the books, snow in the Champagnes! Indeed not only snow but the Charente is currently going through the worse spell of cold and icy weather for twenty seven years.

Temperatures around Cognac have been averaging between -3 to -13 degrees making roads all but impassable – worse, there appears to be no obvious future let up in this unusually cold period.

It has been reported that the snow is the first to fall in the region for ten years. The region is known for its moderate but not extreme climate and the weather has come as something of a shock to many. One viticulturist however claimed that the cold spell will kill of many of the bugs and diseases making for better growing conditions in the summer. Let’s hope he is right, with the continually increasing demand on young cognac, we will need all we can get!

Cognac distributors in China are failing to obtain sufficient stocks to fulfill demand. Many producers in Cognac are under pressure to supply valuable stocks to major negoçiants for blending in VSOP, XO blends. The shortage of supply is forcing prices up and leading to higher costs of new cognacs. Thousands of distillers all over the region are being asked to supply even younger cognacs for blending, with inevitable loss of quality. Industry body the Bureau National Interprofessionel du Cognac (BNIC) said more than five bottles were sold every second in 2011, the total number of bottles sold rose by 6.4% to 162.9 million.

The Far East, which accounted for more than one-third of demand, was the biggest and fastest-growing market with volumes up 14.4%. Sales in China alone rose by 20% the BNIC figures reveal. Growth in Europe was more modest, with the region’s volume sales edging up by 0.4% to 46.9m bottles, while demand in North America rose 3.2% to 50.8m bottles.

Speaking to Reuters, Rémy Cointreau chief executive Jean-Marie Laborde spoke of his optimism for the coming year and his belief that the recovering US market, coupled with the rapid growth in Asia, will help counteract the continuing economic struggles in Europe. Laborde said that sales in the October-December period in particular had exceeded expectations, mainly due to increased Cognac shipments ahead of the Chinese New year. Is big brand optimism good for cognac? Certainly not for quality!

Cognac Prices Soar

The increasing demand for cognacs in the world markets should have been a warning to the industry and this could have been the case, except for a blip in demand in 2008 when fears for the world economy led to fears that we were producing too much.

Unfortunately, this was followed by a poor harvest and the damage to stocks was complete whilst demand, especially in SE Asia is marching on. The shortage of 5-10 year old eau de vie this year is forcing prices up in some areas by as much as 20% and in Grande Champagne price increases have already been as high as 14%.

Price increases for younger cognacs have not been quite so severe and older cognacs are only marginally higher at the moment. Trends in past years suggest that prices for ten year old cognac will drop around September since the big houses set their contracts at the beginning of the year. Many of the smaller distillers who rely on the big negoçiants will be looking to sell stock around September which should ease the pressure for smaller sellers.