Torula News August 2000

31/08/00	Cognac Pierre Serplet … Fifth generation producer of eaux-de-vie in Grande Champagne has bottled small quantities of Cognac since 1976. But it was not until his Hors d’Age won a gold medal at the April 2000 Grande Champagne Tasting in Segonzac, that Pierre and his 2 sons, Loïc and Marc, got serious about bottling their eaux-de-vie. Working from a 22 ha Ugni Blanc vineyard, they sell most of their eaux-de-vie to the big houses. They bottle about 1000 Cognacs and about 2000 Pineaux for friends and relatives. They produce young ***** or Selection, VSOP or Reserve which is about 12 years old, Extra Vieux, around 30years old, at 42% alc. vol. and the 50 years old Hors d’Age**. All Cognacs except Hors d’Age are single year, single cru products. Hors d’Age is a blend of Grande Champagne eaux-de-vie with majority coming from a 1945 distillation, some from 1970 and a small part from around 1914. It is, justifiably, a Gold Medal winner. For more email: serplet.pierre@wanadoo.fr
30/08/00	Will another American buy a Cognac house? ... The answer lies with Tribunal du Commerce in Angouleme and should be known by mid-September. The competition for H. Mounier (Cognac Hubert de Polignac plus some 30 other brand names, vodka, gin and other spirits) is between local cooperative L’Oceane and an American importer. This would solve part of the problem created by the bankruptcy of Unicoop, a 1000 viticulteurs strong cooperative that acquired H. Mounier and then promptly mismanaged its assets.
29/08/00	Cognac houses on Seagram's maneuvers … RémyCointreau (parent of Cognac Rémy Martin) buys Bols, Dutch liquor company for €510 million or was it a purchase of a management talent? Swedish government’ V&S AB that owns Absolut Vodka is searching for partners to buy out Seagram (parent of Cognac Martell) and to protect its long term distribution contract. Our sources tell Torula News that the most likely outcome is that the Absolut Vodka will be sold separately as a whole business. The indication is that the sell of Seagram will nullify the distribution contract for Absolut. Bloomberg News (25/08/00) reported: “Vin & Sprit (V&S AB) is in talks with several companies on a separate licensing agreement that will ensure the brand has a strong U.S. sales network, said Anita Johansson, a director of the state-owned company. “Our distribution in the U.S. can't be allowed to weaken,” Johansson said in an interview. A new license could fetch as much as $1.6 billion, analysts said.". LVMH (parent of Cognac Hennessy) decided to sell its minority interest in Diageo, a prime candidate to purchase Seagram. Does this mean we will see LVMH entry into Seagram sweepstakes? Torula News reported earlier that Bernard Arnault, owner of LVMH, will have an influential role in disposal of Seagram. This is the first move. Companies involved in the battle for Seagram that own Cognac houses did not fared well on the stock markets last week; RémyCointreau lost 9.69%, Seagram lost 3% and Allied Domecq (parent of Cognac Courvoisier) lost nearly 2%. LVMH lost 1.24%. TWIX Index registered a drop of 2.36% after 6 weeks of steady climb. Do investors know better?
28/08/00	The future of Cognac region is in table wine? ... «Les viticulteurs ont stocké une grande quantité de vin que nous leur avons proposé de vendre par exemple comme vin de table. Mais pour eux, c'est trop douloureux d'abandonner la tradition du cognac, voilà la triste réalité actuelle», constate Claire Coates, du BNIC. (Euromag No.97, Gabriel Dvoskin, dans la égion de Cognac). Last week, Jean Glavany, French Minister of Agriculture, announced major offensive to sell French wine targeting Northern Europe. Not surprisingly, he singled out table wines and vin de pays as the main focus of FRF75 million promotion. (Sud Ouest 26/08/00)
25/08/00	Cognac tasting in Paris … Times are changing as indicated by a July’ morning Cognac tasting at the Restaurant La Cagouille in Paris. Despite a traditional vacation time, this tasting was well attended, it had a few surprises but the discussion was interesting and carried on well into the early evening. For results click here.
24/08/00	Cognac on the ferry boat ... This summer edition of the Brittany Ferries onboard magazine Voyage has an informative article about Cognac titled "Foreign Intervention". It offers enough to get the ferry passengers to visit the town and Cognac houses. The guiding hand of Michel Goubard’ Office de Tourisme in Cognac made this article well balanced. No wonder that the Cognac Office de Tourisme is averaging 10,000 visitors per month thissummer.
23/08/00	Private army guards blue agave plants ... Due to the increased global demand for tequila and a devastating disease of 2 years ago, the price of agave has increased by 10 fold in the last 4 months. This is making the plant a prime target of thieves forcing Mexican distillers to deploy private security. After hailstorm and mildew in the Cognac region and increased global Cognac sales this summer, will we see security guards in Grande Champagne or Fins Bois? (IHT13/08/00,Torula News)
23/08/00	Battle for Seagram continues... Less than a week after we wrote (see item on 15/08) that it might take $8 billion to win Seagram, they are now talking of a $9 billion price tag. Diageo and Pernod Ricard (parent of Cognac Bisquit) agreed to bid together against Allied Domecq (parent of Cognac Courvoisier). Many financial analysts predict that the winning price could rise to $9 billion. Not surprisingly, Allied Domecq shares finished lower last week. (Bloomberg News 18/08/00)
22/08/00	Pure Truth, Pure Nonsense, Pure White news? ... Visit www.purewhite.com to find an answer. And there are still Pure T-shirts to win.
22/08/00	200,000 web site visitors ... On 3 July 2000, www.swfrance.com / www.cognacnet.com have registered its 200,000th visitor this year. To celebrate this milestone, Torula News has made Cognac tasting results available on mobile phones with WAP functionality. For site statistics click here, for Cognac WAP here.
21/08/00	Rocking from Fins Bois Cru … 27-year old Sebastian Izambard, heir to Distillery Izambard in the Fins Bois cru opened for Johnny Halliday in Olympia in Paris on 14/08 to a sell out crowd. The Distillery Izambard features in the Hennessy’ Single Distillery Cognac series.
21/08/00	No time off for Bouilleurs de cru … Pascal Millasseau’ team continues to promote Cognac in the region. After Alambic-on-the–wheels recent presence in Confolens during the Folklore Festival, they will be in Massignac on 27 August, where there will be a Cognac auction.

18/08/00	Microbrewery in the Cognac region ...
18/08/00	In the village of Bercloux (17) live 2 brothers, Bertrand and Philippe Laclie. When their father retired recently, Bertrand took over Pineau and Cognac business and Philippe set out to build a microbrewery. The results are in; light beer Bière Blonde de Garde bottled in 75 cl bottles at 5% alc. vol. The taste is excellent. More is to come shortly: “le stout”, 33 cl bottles and flavoured beers (angelique, coriander and lemon). This microbrewery, one of 5 in the region, operates with Philippe and a student. Brewing a good product, keeping employment low and a bit of brotherly rivalry bodes well for Philippe’s success.
18/08/00	Rémy Martin on the roll, investors react … The ink barely dried on our recent story about Rémy Red and Rémy Silver when we spotted 2 new Rémy products. They are additions to the Rémy Martin’ Cognac de Voyage series that was initiated with Trek a few years back. Altitude and Sea Line, both Fine Champagne Cognacs of course, are Duty Free products only. Tasting notes and clever tag lines like Trek – The companion of your adventures, Sea Line – The Spirit of life on board and Altitude – Change your Altitude, Savour the freedom, confirm Cognac Rémy Martin’ new marketing style while retaining overall Rémy's image. And, more importantly, investors are taking note driving shares above €38 last week. There will be a lot to celebrate on 24 August during their shareholders meeting in Cognac. For more visit www.remy.com.
18/08/00	Arzak got it right except for … This great restaurant overlooking San Sebastian is in transition, from Father-Chef Juan Mari Arzak to Daughter-Chef Elena. The food and the service are excellent while half of the dishes we sampled are of the traditional style (Father-Chef) and the others are light and imaginative that came from the nimble hands of the Daughter-Chef. Wines and brandies were plenty and of very good quality especially 1994 Reserve Viña Alcorta Rioja. New interior, new business cards and menu design were clearly influenced by the other daughter who works at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. They are brilliant! What was missing was quality Cognacs as there were plenty of superb single malt whiskies. Ola, Cognac producers, the opportunity is there. That evening, we spotted a famous Parisian chef at one table and, at another, a restaurant critic from Paris. And in the kitchen, when everything was winding down, we noticed Delamain’ Très Vieux Grande Champagne being enjoyed by the hard working team. They deserve it.
17/08/00	Cognac in the brandy land … Despite bombings and assassinations, Torula News spend a few days in the Pays Basque on the Spanish side to check out the visibility of Cognac in this brandy committed land. Between San Sebastian and Bilbao VS dominates: Martell, Courvoisier, Rémy Martin and Hennessy. Nothing above VSOP, no other producers were visible. And yet, the culture of drinking brandy is here. When asked for Cognac Aperitif, everyone looked at us with suspicion. Ola, BNIC – another missed opportunity? So, instead, we enjoyed Brandy 1866 Gran Reserve Larios.
17/08/00	Success, success and success again ...
17/08/00	During this year’ Portes Ouvertes (Open Gates), the Pineau producing region (basically a Cognac region in both Charentes departments) was divided into 7 geographic sectors with over 100 producers (most producing Cognac as well) participating. This year’s campaign was strongly supported by an outdoor advertising (i.e. “Welcome to Pineau Country”). Well-organized, well-marked campaign drew tourist crowds from all over France, England, Germany, Holland, Belgium and Ireland. At more than one producer the parking lots were overflowing. At the Domaine du Chaillaud of J.M.Deau, they had to create additional parking space. As we talked to some of the visitors, they came to admire Botanic Gardens but primarily they wanted to taste and buy the product. We did taste their proper Pineaux but could not resist trying VSOP, XO Tradition, Extra Eternité and Reserve No. 1. The last 2 were indeed very good showing a skilful hand of their Master Cellar Serge Guillet. Château Guynot was very busy as well and their Pineau is quite good. In Epargnes, at the Foire du Pineau, we found several producers; Gousseland who’s Pineau Vieux Blanc is outstanding, Alain Pruleau, Robert, Guy Billonneau, Christophe Brusseau (his Petite Champagne VSOP 1989 and XO 1979 are very good indeed), Mr. Merle who represented a group of Bouilleurs de Crus, Compagnie des Vignerons, with excellent Pineaux and amazing Cognacs of which Vieille Réserve was truly outstanding, Pascal Clair, Lise Baccara with so many products that we wonder how they do it. And then, there were crowds at Brard-Blanchard tasting his organic products. At the Distillery du Planty many were enjoying Caribbean foods and the latest product from family Chollet, an aperitif named Ap’érotic in addition to their Pineaux and Cognacs. We stopped by to say hello to the recently retired President of the Pineaux Association, Christophe Baudry. Two visits stood out above all. Guy Gombert at Chez Lunaud has introduced a 22year old Pineau Vieux Rosé. As Harry Potter would say: it’s magic. This Pineau is all made by hand: from harvest to special treatment of the grape juice and grape maceration. After a lunch at the newly discovered Château de Laléard (47 rooms, swimming pool, tennis courts etc.) we followed signs to number 102, Les Raisins de l’Abbaye. Thierry and Olivier Madé and their father Guy together with their families have 14 hectares of vineyard. They bottle quality Pineaux and Cognacs in very small quantities. The visit was well marked; very well organized and had a friendly atmosphere. In the centre of the village, Asnieres La Giraud - La rue, we sampled galette charentaise made in the village’s open oven. The mayor and his assistant, Mr Doublet served it. This year’s Portes Ouvertes was an unqualified success and the credit must go not only to the Pineau producers but also to the people at the Pineaux Association (CNPC) led by Christophe Thomas.
16/08/00	From wine to Cognac & Pineau to No. 1 … Philippe Piquet-Pelorce, owner of Cave St. Leger knows his wines. Since early last year he has been honing his Cognac & Pineau skills. As his knowledge expanded so did it his trade until he run out of space. Then he moved his shop to larger quarters, at 49 rue Arisistide Briand in Cognac, next to the Church St. Leger. On his shelves, among many quality wines, are Cognacs and Pineaux from Boutinet, Prunier, Delamain, Ragnaud-Sabourin, Le Glos de la Groie, Fraichefont, Drouet, Esteve, Rémy Martin, Jacques Collin, Frapin, Lisca Mont and Bisquit’s Cohiba. Working through a carefully created selection list supported by tastings, Philippe’s selection will grow. Cave St. Leger has become the number 1 Cognac and Pineau shop in the town of Cognac.
16/08/00	Where is Town of Cognac? ... Map of the town of Cognac for year 2000 was recently distributed. Where is Town of Cognac, in which department of France? Is it in Charente or Charente Maritime? Click here for a wrong answer!
15/08/00	Will $8 billion buy Seagram? ... Diageo and Allied Domecq, two main Gladiators of the spirits industry are the prime contenders in a battle for Seagram (a parent of Cognac Martell). As Torula News reported in June and July, this will not be as simple business battle as it was expected when Vivendi became VivendiUniversal after striking a deal with Edgar Bronfman Jr. in June. First, Diageo must find a partner to pick up some conflicting (for regulatory reasons) brands like Chivas Regal vs. their own Johnnie Walker brand. Bacardi Martini (parent of Cognacs Otard, Gaston de Lagrande and Exshaw) is the prime candidate. Other main Seagram brands are Crown Royal Canadian whisky, Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum, Absolut Vodka, Don Julio Tequila, Glenlivet 12-year-old Scotch whisky and Seagram's Gin. On paper Allied Domecq has an advantage. A few sherry and port brands are in conflict together with its Cognac Courvoisier that competes with Cognac Martell. Its war chest however is smaller than Diageo’s and some of its institutional shareholders are known to oppose the bid. There are other interests in entering the ring like Pernod Ricard (parent of Cognac Bisquit), Claridge Investements which is Charles Bronfman’ investment group, an uncle of Edgar Bronfman Jr.. The family owns about 24% of Seagram shares but more importantly they could use Swedish government owned distiller Vin&Spirit AB (parent of Absolut Vodka) which granted them Absolut distribution license, to mount a bid. And there is also Brown-Forman of Jack Daniels fame that might spoil the party. Morgan Stanley, Seagram’s investment banker will release the financial book in late August. This will formally be the beginning of the bidding war. A battle between chairmen-Gladiators, Paul Walsh of Diageo and Philip Bowman of Allied Domecq might be decided, as we reported earlier, by Bernard Arnault of LVMH, a parent of Cognac Hennessy. Seagram employs 10,000 people in 190 countries. It had $684 million in sales last year. The rumoured price tag is in the $7.4 - 7.7 billion range.
15/08/00	Local newspaper proposes local products … A daily insert in the Cognac region edition of the Sud Ouest newspaper has run a regular feature promoting Cognac, Pineau des Charentes and Vins de Pays Charentais. Gerard Guidier, a former viticulteur himself and now a regular contributor to Sud Ouest, is behind this commendable effort. Recently, he has featured the following products; XO Valentine from Cognac Pierre Croizet, Pineau blanc de La Larquier, VSOP Christian Gravelat, Pineau blanc Ramnoux, Sauvignon blanc P. Mallinger, Vin de pays rouge Jacques Brard-Blanchard, Cognac Giboin, Pineau J.M. Begey and many others.
14/08/00	Nicholas Faith in Cognac ... Famous journalist, author of books on Cognac and brandy and organizer of the annual International Spirits Challenge in London visited Cognac recently. In a press interview, he has offered a series of interesting observations; pull all vines west of Cognac, concentrate production on 4 crus only (Grande and Petite Champagne, Borderies and Fins Bois), do not ignore top quality Cognacs while pursuing Cognac Aperitif (i.e. brandy-soda) option, elitist image of Cognac continues but a subtle change is evolving. Will they listen? (Sud-Ouest 2/08/00)
14/08/00	Hail in the Cognac vineyards ... It did not take long to cause a significant damage. The sudden storm, in the end of July, with cherry-size hail added to the viticulteurs problems by destroying many vineyards and effectively reducing harvest in some. The hardest hit were the vineyards in Grande Champagne cru near La Nérolle and on the road between Mainxe and Segonzac. The 1992 repeat of the hail comes on the top of a bad, rainy summer that forces viticulteurs to fight mildew and other diseases in the vineyard with an extensive use of insecticides and other chemicals. Reduced harvest will offer the industry an opportunity to lower their overflowing inventories. However, the main question about the 2000 harvest is one of quality. Time will tell.
11/08/00	Between 12 and 14 August in the Cognac region, some 118 Pineau des Charentes producers open their doors wider than usual to the public. This is their 5^th year of Portes Ouvertes campaign to discover producers, meet the public and to introduce generic aspects of the product. Pineaux producers and their effective CNPC (The Pineaux Association) under the direction of Christophe Thomas, is working hard to popularize their product. The September replacement for Christophe Thomas will have a formidable task to fulfill his shoes! The results are impressive. 10% annual sales increase as of May 2000 with a stunning 50% sales increase in June 2000. During 1999 Open Gates campaign they registered 25,000 visitors and should easily better that number this year. The moral of this story is that when you stick to basic generic campaign, the results will be positive. 75% of Pineau is sold in France; the biggest foreign market is Belgium followed by Quebec in Canada, Germany and Denmark. Time has come to expand their generic promotional campaign to foreign markets. We suggest Scandinavia, South America and Japan. Our Japanese correspondent during recent visit in the region explained: “The switch to wines and the slowdown in Cognac sales resulted from new generation of buyers, primarily women, who prefer less strong, sweeter products. Economic downturn in Japan had some impact but has not stopped wine sales, at all. Pineau has a good potential in Japan”.
10/08/00	We choose the wrong time to visit Cognac Rémy Martin store in Merpins near Cognac; they were packed with tourists; French, German, Dutch, English and Scandinavians. But Marie-Christine Coates, the formidable woman in charge, found the time to give us lessons on Rémy Red and Rémy Silver. The first one is the hit in the USA while the second has outpaced all projections for sales in the Benelux countries. Rémy Red, at 16% alc. vol., is a result of blending Cognac Rémy Martin Fine Champagne with fruit juices and a touch of Guarana and Ginseng. It goes well with orange juice but our favorite is with champagne, a Mimosa cocktail cousin. We like it so much we named it RémyChamps. Rémy Silver is a equal blend of Cognac Rémy Martin Fine Champagne (40% alc. vol.) and Premium Vodka at the same strength. We tasted it with ice cubes, Coca Cola and Tonic. At home, we made a Bloody Mary which turn out to be a real winner. We call it MaryRémyMary. Two Cognac based products offering interesting Cognac Aperitif ideas. To the Cognac purist this may be sacrilege but it must be remembered that search for new customers, competing for new generation taste buds has to take many different forms. Rémy Martin has scored a bulls eye with both products. We will be back for another Marie-Christine lesson.
09/08/00	New attitude and new products from Cognac Camus were introduced at Franck Valente' Maison Blanche discotheque in Cognac recently. The new generation of Camus Cognacs was led by XO named Neon de Camus (an already success in the UK) it included also Jazz de Camus and Cool Jazz. Well packaged, good quality products that show an inspired hand of Cyril Camus.
08/08/00	7th Cognac Blues Passions Festival exceeded all expectations this year. All main Cognac Houses (Hennessy, Rémy Martin, Courvoisier, Otard, Camus, Meukow). Cooperage Taransaud, Corks Delage, with exception of Cognac Martell, participated taking advantage of increased tourist presence mainly from abroad; Germans, Dutch, English and Scandinavians. Supermarket Leclerc organized a topical photo and drawings exhibition highlighting local talents: Troub's, L'Ours and Charli. The Festival doubled its passport ticket sales showing what can be done when an event is well organized, well sponsored and has an unmistakable association with Cognac. Re-positioning of the BNIC Cognac bar tower brought needed visibility, promotion material in English spoiled only by the persistent offering of CognacTonic only. Having nearly perfected the concept of Cognac and Music (blues, swing, gospel, jazz) time is now to export this idea - a world tour of Cognac Blues Passions. A great opportunity of spreading the gospel of Cognac Aperitif, Music and Cognac Digestive in Central Park in New York, Hyde Park in London, Aker Brygge in Oslo, Shinjuku-Gyon in Tokyo, Skansen in Stockholm, for example. Michel Roland, his team and supporting Cognac Houses did a very good job. Hennessy' Pure Blues and Catherine Mattei of Courvoisier idea of river blues cruise ticket exchange for a visit and 4 miniature were the promotional stand outs.
07/08/00	Owner of Cognac KCP Hardy S.A. invests billions of dollars in telecommunication industry buying a system that serves more than 1 million subscribers in prosperous State of Hesse, Germany that includes an all important business city of Frankfurt. Will they become Cognac Hardy drinkers? The merger and acquisition fever of telecoms and Internet companies is spilling into Cognac region exemplified by current negotiations between 2 merchants. A long needed consolidation might be on the way. (IHT27/07/00, Torula News)
04/08/00	Chairman of LVMH (parent of Cognac Hennessy) is a shareholder in Diageo, one of the main bidders for Seagram’ Spirits group that includes Cognac Martell. In addition, Diageo is involved in distribution of several LVMH products. If Diageo buys the Seagram' Spirits group, this may create a brand conflict with LVMH’ Cognac Hennessy. Investment bankers involved in these negotiations are confident of solving this issue due to Bernard Arnault’s persuasive powers and the practicality of the newly appointed Chairman of Diageo.
03/08/00	Long delayed and protracted changes are underway way at the Communication Services at the BNIC with the resignation of its President, establishment of the 40 Group of industry advisors (see our item in June) and re-alignment of Communication Department.
02/08/00	When Neil and Peter stopped in the Cognac region some months ago, they were eager “to do” Cognac. We can see results of their commitment and determination to Cognac – www.cognac-co.com. An informative site targeted at English market with an impressive selection of Cognacs (including many of our favorites) to be purchased on-line.
02/08/00	Siecq led by a dynamic Mayor Favreau and Cave du Liboreau led by new director Michel Not are once again presenting "A day in the Vineyards". This 3rd edition has now achieved international recognition with tourists from England, Belgium, Holland and Scandinavia visiting. A well organized walk in the vineyards with commentaries by the local viticulteurs, tasting at the Cave du Liboreau, Internet Cognac surfing and a dinner of local specialties add up to a great day.
01/08/00	From the Fins Bois vineyard on the border to Borderies cru, Bernard Vincenty started to bottle his Cognacs. They are properly made VS, VSOP and Napoleon.

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