Pure White
26 janvier 1999
The launch by Hennessy of "Pure White" in Cognac this weekend following similar launches in several other large European cities is raising skepticism.

D. Quentin defends pineau
26 janvier 1999
Didier Quentin, a member of Parliament for Charente-Maritime, has raised once again the question of indirect taxes on pineau (four times higher than on fortified wines) during question in the Assembly. The government turned down his request but has indicated that the regional tax director is to undertake a study.

Ideas for new cognac
26 janvier 1999
Francis Gay-Belile, the former director of the viticulture research station, has said that he is opposed to efforts to compete with whiskies costing 60 francs, but has suggested novel ideas for a lighter form of cognac obtained, for example, by the use of column distillation which is less expensive.

BNIC internet server
21 janvier 1999
The BNIC internet server has been operational since Tuesday and can be visited at three addresses : cognac.fr, bnic.fr or the-cognac.fr. At the end of the month it will also have an extranet aimed at professionals who will be able to consult all the BNIC databases via an access code.

Pure White from Hennessy
21 janvier 1999
"Pure White", a young cognac which Hennessy wishes to make into one of its main products, is to be the subject of an official launch next week in Cognac.

Trading : a "large small" player
21 janvier 1999
The compagnie commerciale de Guyenne (CCG), with a turnover of 170 million francs and 70 employees, brings together many small and medium-sized brands and appears in the list of the top ten cognac trading houses and the top 25 companies in the Charente.

Cognac sales tumble
21 janvier 1999
Figures published by the BNIC show that sales of cognac continue to fall. The drop stood at -4.8 % at 30 November for the first eleven months of 1998 compared to 3 % at 30 June. The fall in exports, which represent 93% of business, stands at 10 % (-29 % to Japan, -41 % to Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore and even -2 5 % to the United Kingdom). Only the United States are standing firm (+8.7 %).

Engraved cognac
21 janvier 1999
Sig-Gravure, a company based in Angoulême, is selling bottles of cognac with a personal engraving directly via its internet site (cognactoyou.com, designed by Actufax) and is receiving orders from all over the world with a high level of penetration in Northern Europe.

Bernard Arnault strengthens his position in LVMH
13 janvier 1999
Bernard Arnault has increased his personal control over LVMH in which he now holds 31 % compared to 22 % at the start of 1998 and ...2 % in 1989. Moreover LVMH has just increased its stake in the capital of the Italian leather goods company Gucci by taking over Prada’s shares and now controls between 15 and 20 % of the capital.

Cognac sales down
13 janvier 1999
If overall sales of French wines and spirits rose last year to 44 billion francs (up from 42 billion in 1997), sales in the spirits sector, and cognac in particular, have slumped (by 18.5 % in ten months for cognac and armagnac and 12 % for spirits overall). There are sharp contrasts depending on the geographical areas : rises in Europe and North America and a fall in Asia.