Allied Domecq : offer rejected
8 octobre 2003
Allied Domecq (Courvoisier cognac) has had its 87 million euro offer rejected by the board of directors of the Australian producer Peter Lehman Wines. It prefers the bid from the Swiss Hess Group.

Cognac : Chinese shipments
8 octobre 2003
Shipments of cognac to China rose by +349.4 % during the 2002-2003 wine-growing year.

Movement at Hardy
8 octobre 2003
McBailey Gibson is leaving his post as director of the Hardy cognac house. Philippe Prével becomes chairman of the board. Marc Mesnier is leaving his post as director of the "France" department which is being absorbed by the general management : two posts are being abolished. Hardy now employs 8 people whose activity is in the commercial sector. The technical side of the business is handled by H.-Mounier which acquired Hardy in December 2001.

Cognac Royer
1er octobre 2003
The Royer cognac house, which became part of the Japanese group Suntory in 1988, produces 250,000 cases each year. It has redirected its activity towards the production of liqueurs and mixes (cognac-based products) ands invested in a bottling plant which has been running since June. Royer has over 80 employees and had a turnover of 32 million euros in the last fiscal year.

Martell : first half-year results
1er octobre 2003
Sales of Martell cognac rose by 18% in the first half-year, thanks notably to the British market and strong growth in China.. Sales of Martell have fallen in France. Operating results of the wine and spirits branch reached 270 million euros (+5.2 %) in the first half-year.

Wine distillation : decree published
1er octobre 2003
The Official Gazette has published the decree authorizing the distillation of wines in the cognac area with a maximum agronomical yield of 120 hl/ha, now calculated on areas planted before 31 July 2002. The quantity of wine normally produced (QNV) in set at 7 hectoliters of pure alcohol per hectare.

Wine harvest : -8 % in 2003
24 septembre 2003
The 2003 wine harvest should show an 8 % fall compared to last year with only 48,064 million hectoliters. The quantity of wine suitable for producing cognac should amount to 7,713 million compared to 8,194 million in 2002. The exceptional climatic conditions are obviously the cause of this reduction.

New partner for Raynal & Cie
24 septembre 2003
Following the withdrawal of IPO and 3i from the capital of Raynal & Cie (formerly Pélisson, specializing in cognac brandy), Fonds partenaires is the new financial ally of the company run by Patrice Quatraveaux.

Cognac producers optimistic at harvest time
17 septembre 2003
The 7,500 cognac wine growers in the two departments of the Charente area have officially criticized the 2003 harvest in a context of renewed confidence. Indeed, after several years of crisis due to chronic overproduction (offset by subsidies from Brussels), the market appears to be picking up since brokers have announced rises in orders both in volume and price. Hennessy has announced that it will be buying more (15 %) and at a higher price (3 %), Rémy Martin will be paying more (2.5 %). Even so, not all the wine growers are expressing confidence : cash flow remains "strained" and young people are hardly motivated to take over.

Cognac against tax
17 septembre 2003
The BNIC has written to Matignon, Matteï and local elected representatives to protest against the plan to tax wine at 5 centimes per bottle. Cognac already carries duty of 5.25 % and the BNIC considers that any increase is impossible.