LVMH down, Hennessy stable
30 janvier 2002
Operating profits of the LVMH group (Hennessy cognac), affected by the aftermath of 11 September, fell ; by 20.3 % last year. The worst affected sectors are watches and jewelry, champagne and duty-free goods. Hennessy is fighting back with a 6 % increase in business despite a fall in sales in Japan and is taking advantage of new markets in China, Korea and Eastern Europe.

Martell, a priority for Pernod-Ricard
23 janvier 2002
Last Friday in Cognac the directors of Pernod-Ricard officially took possession of the Martell company. With the acquisition of the wine and spirits branch of Seagram which includes Martell, Pernod-Ricard has become the second-largest cognac house behind Hennessy. The directors intend to make the development of Martell the second-most important priority for the group behind Chivas Regal whisky by making use of their very powerful sales network.

Etapes du cognac
17 janvier 2002
The second cognac trail called "the River" has been open for a few days. 120 signposts pointing tourists to the main sites of interest and activities along the river have been placed between Cognac and Fléac. The third trail "Stone" will be operational in the spring.

Pernod-Ricard no. 2
17 janvier 2002
Following the takeover of Martell, which was finalized at the end of last year, Pernod-Ricard, which already had control of Bisquit and Renault, becomes the second largest cognac house with 2 million cases (compared to 160,000 cases for Renault and Bisquit alone, which Pernod-Ricard might have sold had the takeover not happened).

Cuvée Rabelais
17 janvier 2002
The Frapin cognac house has launched a Cuvée Rabelais, a limited edition of "unknown age" for which the oldest eaux-de-vie come from the Folle Blanche grape of around 1870. The cognac comes in a pendulum-shaped carafe at a price of 4,300 euros.

Cognac Cigar club
17 janvier 2002
On 14 January the guest of the Cognac Cigar club was the ambassador of Santo Domingo along with a group of aficionados from Brittany.

Pineau plays the test of strength
9 janvier 2002
Backed by a decision of the High Court in Auch, even though it is not final, 180 pineau brokers and producers brought together by the pineau producers union have decided to pay only 3.50 francs (the same as for sweet natural wines) in duty instead of 14 francs and to place the balance of 10.50 francs in a frozen account which will be used to promote pineau.

Sales of cognac
9 janvier 2002
The latest figures from the BNIC show a drop in sales of cognac at the end of the year (-11.5 % for exports in the year ending in November, including -58 % to Japan) and -15.2 % on the French market.

Thomas Hine & Cie
9 janvier 2002
A subsidiary of LVMH, Thomas Hine & Cie (42 employees, turnover of 9 million euros) is to concentrate its efforts on very high-quality top of the range products and close one of its three sites in Jarnac by the fall with the transfer of its bottling to Hennessy in Cognac. 22 employees are affected.

Mounier-Hardy
9 janvier 2002
The H Mounier cognac house, which has just taken over Hardy cognac, received two medals during the latest Wine & Spirit competition (Gold for the new 1st cru (production area) cognac and bronze for its XO).