Cognac : sales down again
2 mars 1999
The latest figures concerning cognac sales which have just been published show a fall of 4.5 % to 134.6 million bottles sold worldwide. Turnover has fallen to 8.7 billion compared to 10 billion in 1997, which means that cognac is now falling far behind the two other great names in French wine growing : Bordeaux and Champagne. Industry insiders have detected some reasons to hope for an upturn, notably as a result of the turnaround of the French market and the strength of the American market (+13 %).

Grand Marnier : investments
2 mars 1999
During the AGM of SICA Cognac, the cooperative which supplies its cognac, the Grand Marnier group announced major investments with the development of new products such as "Louis-Alexandre", with a drier taste for businessmen, in an attempt to attract younger customers with a marketing operation under way in 600 restaurants and a 1 cc glass offered systematically with the dessert. With 80 % of its 650 million franc turnover in Europe and America, Grand Marnier has been largely affected by the Asian crisis.

Unicoop : 15 redundancies
2 mars 1999
The number of redundancies expected at Unicoop was made known during a meeting of the works committee on Friday : 15 out of 83 employees.

Château de Beaulon rings the changes
2 mars 1999
Whereas the "ugni-blanc" is by far the leading type of vine, the Château de Beaulon at St Dizant-du-Gua is continuing its successful move to cultivate various different types including the "Folle blanche" with very interesting results in terms of aroma.

A cognac called "Furio"
2 mars 1999
Mounier, a subsidiary of Unicoop launched a new cognac during a reception at the Migron discotheque on 27 February. Going under the name of "Furio" it is a young cognac to be drunk as an aperitif. The bottle is decorated with flames rising up to the neck.

Vineyard conservatory
16 février 1999
A vineyard conservatory with 140 types of vine is to be created at Cherves-Richemont near cognac.

Seagram : results down
16 février 1999
The Seagram group, the owners of Martell, has announced losses of 226 million dollars after spending 405 million dollars for the purchase of Polygram. Even before reserves profits are down.

Rémy-Cointreau sells Grands Vins de Bordeaux
16 février 1999
Rémy-Cointreau (Rémy-Cointreau cognac) has announced that is has sold Grands Vins de Bordeaux (130 employees) to a group of investors in association with the management of the company. Rémy-Cointreau has indicated that this sale puts an end to asset sales which have already seen the sale of the Seguin-Moreau cooperage and the De Vengoge and Krug champagnes in recent months. Moreover Rémy-Cointreau has confirmed a return to profits (600 million francs forecast for the current financial year which closes at the end of March). The debt ratio (debts/equity) has been reduced from 2.3 to 1.5.

Eau-de-vie quality report
16 février 1999
Even though distillation has not yet finished, the viticulture station at the national cognac office has indicated that the average white wine cognac yield this year is 112 hectoliters per hectare with 9.23 % by volume, two results which are slightly lower than previous years. On the other hand, the eau-de-vie (spirits) seem to be particularly aromatic and perfumed this year.

Charente "vin de pays" : selection for Paris
16 février 1999
Thirty samples (a record) of red, rosé and white local wines were presented on Monday for selection ahead of the Agricultural show starting on 27 February.