SGV branch meetings
16 février 2010
Following the branch meetings of the SGV winegrowers’ union, 300 winegrowers from Charente and Charente-Maritime have made known their preoccupations. Delayed payment of restructuring and investment are at the top of the list. They concern the replacement of vines 35 years old and more. The annual rate is only 1.5% whereas it should be 3%. Damage caused by hailstones is still raising questions.

Hennessy celebrates the year of the tiger
15 février 2010
To mark the Chinese new year, Hennessy is offering an exceptional cognac in a leather case (18,000 euros) and a Hennessy Paradis Horus (1,250 euros).

Cognac shipments
15 février 2010
In January 2010, shipments of cognac rose by 19.2% compared to January 2009, including +54.5% in Asia. Shipments over the last 12 months have fallen by 9.4%.

Entreprendre Poitou-Charentes
15 février 2010
C. Camus, from the Camus cognac house, is the new president of the network Entreprendre Poitou-Charentes.

Piper-Heidsieck job cuts
8 février 2010
The Piper-Heidsieck champagne house, a subsidiary of Rémy-Cointreau, is to cut a quarter of its staff in Reims. It blames the move on a 42% fall in business in the last year.

Boost for Bisquit
8 février 2010
The Distell group (over 4,000 employees, turnover in excess of 1 billion euros) has installed the Bisquit cognac house, acquired in March 2009 from the Pernod-Ricard group, in the former Raynal premises in Cognac. The cellar master D. Lahouratate is working on blending three eaux-de-vie. New packaging will be proposed this summer.

Cognac find in Antarctic
8 février 2010
Two cases of cognac and three of whisky have been found in the ice in Antarctic : they had been abandoned in 1909 during an expedition by Ernest Shackleton which failed 160 km short of the South Pole.

Courvoisier de luxe for Cupidon
4 février 2010
Courvoisier is launching “L’Essence de Courvoisier” for Valentine’s Day in collaboration with the jeweler Gassan : a hand-crafted Baccarat crystal decanter with a crystal stopper and a Gassan solitaire diamond ring. It is available exclusively at Schiphol airport in Amsterdam.

Which “cognac reserve” ?
2 février 2010
The SVBC winegrowers and distillers’ union has launched the idea of a “cognac reserve” which would work along the lines of an insurance. The SVBC has in mind a system which would set the production quota at 9.5hl of pure alcohol per hectare for five years. Only quantities which correspond to the calculated yield (8.12 this year) would be sent to market. The remainder could be stocked. The winegrowers’ union is calling for the introduction of a minimum yield.

Chill out at Rémy Martin
2 février 2010
Rémy Martin is proposing “Iceboxx”, a mini freezer containing two bottles of VSIOP at -18°C. Two have already been installed in Charente (Fair-Play in Cognac, Cinq-Sens in Angoulême).