Remy Cointreau’s revenue for the year ended 31 March 2011 grew 12%, driven by demand for Cognac in Asia and their travel retail business. It appears that cognac sales have risen 20% to €486 million throughout all their sales regions, but Asia have shown the largest growth, most notably in China where the market is buying everything it can get its hands on. China is currently the fastest growing sector of the cognac industry. Remy’s other brands did not do so well, with Metaxa sales declining and Mount Gay rum staying flat. It appears that the Chinese are moving forward… Read more

Visiting France again last week to locate more vintage cognacs, we were delighted to have found a number of exceptionally fine brandies. Top of our list is a seventy year old cognac from the region around Juillac la Coq. There is not a large quantity, some sixty litres in all, but it is exceptionally rare and we expect to be able to obtain at least half of it, which we are hoping to be sold as a special presentation. We have also identified a fabulous 2002 vintage with an aroma and flavour of clover honey. This cognac is at over… Read more

The Prunier family has been shipping cognacs since 1700.  The first member of the Prunier family to start the business was Jean Prunier (1665 – 1732). He was a freeman of the port of La Rochelle, which was the main shipping port for goods on the western coast of France. Jean Prunier was a renowned cognac expert, and living in La Rochelle he had the foresight to watch shippers at the port and was able to create connections with traders (or correspondents as they were called in other countries) and was able to sell their wines and brandies. The family… Read more

Why, oh why do we in Britain have such a love of Pineau des Charentes but never seem to drink it? In a generation of tasting this rich aperitif from the Charente region, I have only come across one person who has failed to like it, saying it was too sweet. Pineau is sold in this country as both an aperitif and a dessert wine. It is made from 25% eau de vie, to which regional grape juice is added (the Charente being rather rich in fine grape varietals particularly of the red type). Apart from the wonderful Chateau de… Read more

Vinexpo is the biggest wines and spirits exhibition in the world. It is held in Bordeaux every other year and on alternate years is held in Hong Kong. Although the official figures showed a 3% increase in visitor numbers, numbers of European visitors were down with the exception of visitors from the UK. Visitors from China and South East Asia, as well as visitors from Russia were up. The Chinese are generally increasing in wealth and are becoming much more aware of fine wines and spirits (and many Chinese have a cultural relationship with cognacs since they indicate wealth and… Read more

The hot Spring weather has created many problems in the Charente Vineyards. Temperatures of more than 35 degrees have had a severe effect on this year’s grape harvest. The sun has scorched the grapes, drying them and changing them to little more than sultanas. Temperatures in the Charente of this magnitude are unusual and can be particularly harmful at this stage of their growth. A 52 year record temperature of 40 degrees was recorded in one vineyard and many producers are severely worried that grape harvests will be drastically reduced as a result of the heat. And as if the… Read more

Continuing from our previous post about early Cognac history, some more historical dates in time about the golden nectar… 1835 Felix Courvoisier and Louis Gallois found Cognac Courvoisier 1849 Martell use their own labels on their bottles for the first time 1854 Cognacs depict 4 different zones of cognac. Grande Champagne, Petite Champagne, Premier Bois and Deuxième Bois 1856 Hennessy start to label bottles 1858 The House of A E Dor is founded in Jarnac 1865 Hennessy start to use stars to denote cognac quality 1870 The maps of the Charente regions show Fins Bois and Bon Bois for the… Read more

Sometimes in summer we think of more fruity drinks and with the lower distillation range of 52 – 72 degrees there is ample scope to develop the plummy flavours of good armagnac. Delord have a superb range of vintage armagnacs, but like so many armagnac houses they have recognised that these vintages will one day run out. The firm is determined to state ages on their bottles, and we have chosen the 20 year old Bas Armagnac to test. One can never be entirely happy with the concept of blending brandies together, as variations can occur that create differences in… Read more

Louis Royer is probably better known now than it has ever been during its long life, as a result of its takeover by the giant Suntory organisation in Japan. The firm was started in 1853 by its founder Louis Royer. He was a chief blender at another cognac house and he decided to establish his own distillery. He was an avid beekeeper and a bee is enshrined in the firm’s coat of arms. Louis Royer is said to have chosen the bee as an emblem from the very beginning of his business and is said to represent the values that… Read more

Very few of us are aware that French Brandies have a long history, indeed they are some of the oldest distilled spirits. Here are a few facts for your next bar quiz.. 1411 First brandy, as we now know it, distilled in Armagnac, mainly for farmers. 1494 Francois 1 is born in Cognac and later allows traders to use the Charente river to ship salt to the ports. 1549 First Brandy appears in Cognac, a merchant from La Rochelle produced four casks of “good cognac”. 1643 Philippe Augier founds first cognac house, Augier Freres. 1678 Cogniack Brandy is mentioned in the… Read more