CHINA WILL HAVE THE WORLD'S LARGEST WINE AND BRANDY PRODUCTION PLANT OWNED BY CHANGYU

China’s oldest and largest winery, Changyu Pioneer Wine Co., is to build an international “wine city” in Yantai, Shandong province, at a cost of £600m.

The project, covering an area of 413 hectares, will be home to a national wine research institute and wine production centre.

Changyu Wine City

It will also include grape planting areas, an international wine trading center, a European-style village, and two high-end châteaux.

The wine production centre will cover an area of 220,000 square metres, making it one of the world’s largest wine and brandy production plants.

Changyu Wine City

The city – an amalgam of research, winemaking and tourism – is expected to be completed by 2016.

Changyu Pioneer Wine Co. was established in 1892, when cuttings from Bordeaux, Burgundy and Alsace were planted in Yantai.

In 2002, the company built its first French-style château – Château Changyu-Castel – in Yantai in cooperation with the Castel Group, planted primarily with Cabernet Gernischt – a red variety similar to Cabernet Franc.

It has since added a further five châteaux to its portfolio, three of which are operational.

Changyu Wine City

The other three: Château Changyu Baron Balboa in Xinjiang Uygur, Château Changyu Moser XV in Ningxia Hui and Château Changyu Reina in Shaanxi province, are expected to open in the next six months.

In 2006, Changyu collaborated with Canadian company Aurora to build the largest ice wine château in the world near Huanlong Lake in Liaoning province. It has also expanded overseas, with Château Changyu Kely in New Zealand.

Changyu Pioneer Wine Co. is the tenth largest wine company in the world.

Changyu acquired the cognac house on Saulnier street named Roullet-Fransac in 2013.

Source: www.thedrinksbusiness.com

THE NEW AD CAMPAIGN FOR REMY MARTIN V EAU-DE-VIE

On 1st of June 2014, Rémy Cointreau USA is launching a new ad campaign called 'V Fabulous' for its Rémy Martin V, i.e., the eau-de-vie model which is an unaged product that if aged it would be called cognac.

Remy Martin V, unaged grape spirit

It will include print, digital and out-of-home executions on the national and local level along with radio and television spots. Rémy launched V in 2012 in the USA only. It retails at $40, and it is making inroads as a trade-up opportunity within the ultra-premium white spirits category. Kind of Ciroc for the Riches!

HENNESSY COGNAC V.S. HAS JUST LAUNCHED ITS 4TH LIMITED ARTISTRY EDITION WITH DESIGNER SHEPARD FAIREY

Moët Hennessy USA has partnered with artist Shepard Fairey to release the fourth edition of its Limited Edition Hennessy V.S. label.

Hennessy Cognac VS designed by Shepard Fairey

This year’s Hennessy V.S. Limited Edition bottle design features Fairey’s trademark color palette and iconography, including the artist’s signature star icon and “Obey” imagery.

Each individually-numbered bottle will retail for $32 a 750-ml. Additionally, Hennessy V.S. Limited Edition Deluxe sets ($150) are slated to launch in July, comprising two new and distinct 750-ml.

Hennessy Cognac designed by Shepard Fairey

Bottles were designed by Fairey.

Shepard Fairey and Cognac

Previous iterations of Hennessy’s Limited Edition V.S. Cognac have featured designs from contemporary artists such as Kaws, Futura and Os Gemeos.

Hennessy Cognac VS by Kaws

Hennessy Cognac VS by Futura

Hennessy Cognac VS by Os Gemeos

Sources: hennessy.com

LVMH ESTATE & WINES GROWS WITH ONE MORE, THIS TIME A BURGUNDY ESTATE NAMED DOMAINE DE LAMBRAYS

French luxury group Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH) has made its first move in Burgundy, buying Domaine des Lambrays from Ruth Freund for an undisclosed sum. The domaine includes a near-monopoly of the climat Clos des Lambrays. “It’s the first step in Burgundy, with an exceptional terroir and a great historic estate,” Jean-Guillaume Prats, CEO of LVMH Estates and Wines, told Wine Spectator.

Clos des Lambrays and LVMH

Although the domaine is best known for the 21.5-acre Clos des Lambrays (of which it controls all but 0.1 acre), it owns 27.2 acres in all, including parts of the Morey-St.-Denis premier cru Les Loups, parts of the Puligny Montrachet premier cru Clos du Cailleret and less than an acre of Puligny Montrachet premier cru Clos Les Folatières.
Prats said LVMH would maintain the current distribution and, “of course, the existing, very competent local team will continue to manage the estate.” LVMH already has extensive vineyard holdings, including Châteaus Cheval-Blanc and d’Yquem in Bordeaux, as well as South Africa’s Cape Mentelle, California’s Newton, Cloudy Bay in New Zealand, Cheval des Andes in Argentina, and Spain’s Numanthia, as well as several Champagne houses and sparkling wine Chandon operations in multiple countries.

Source: WineSpectator

SPECULATION OF COGNAC REMY MARTIN BEING ACQUIRED BY BROWN-FORMAN

Rémy Cointreau's shares have fallen by around 40% over the past year because of a slowdown in China's economy. China is an important market for Rémy Cointreau because of the amount of business they do with Rémy Martin in Asia. 

Prior to this slow down, China had accounted for around one-third of Rémy’s turnover. In the first nine months of the company’s fiscal year (ended December 31, 2013), overall sales declined by 12.3% to €964.5 million ($1.325b).

However, today Rémy Cointreau’s share price jumped on rumors that Brown-Forman was considering a bid for the French drinks group.

Brown-Forman and Remy-Cointreau

After financial blog Betaville reported on 3rd April that Brown-Forman has been working with several advisers, including Goldman Sachs, Societe Generale, Lazard Bank etc. on a potential acquisition of Rémy, and that “tentative discussions have been held between investment banking advisers to both companies,” Rémy shares rose by as much as 11% on the Euronext Paris Exchange—to more than €65 ($89)—in this morning’s early trading. By mid-day in Paris, Rémy’s share price surge had cooled, but, at around €62 ($85), they were still nearly 5% above yesterday’s closing.

Rémy Cointreau is a family-controlled company, with the Heriard-Dubreuil family holding majority ownership. Over the years, the Heriard-Dubreuils have steadfastly refused to sell, even as Rémy has at times endured more difficult conditions than it does currently, and I doubt the Heriard-Dubreuil will sell.

Brown-Forman is also a family business with 70% controlled by the Brown family in Kentucky. Jack Daniel's is by far its most famous brand (Tennessee whiskey).

Cognac makes up 80 percent of Remy Cointreau's operating profit and China 50% of it. Jack Daniel's make 50% of Brown-Forman profits.

This would be a major deal in the cognac market. I wonder if this is a 'hoax' as it is being reported by Reuters or Bloomberg also as a 'rumor' and 'speculation'.

Diageo, Pernod Ricard or Bacardi may want to get in the game too.

Sources: http://www.shankennewsdaily.com, http://www.reuters.com, http://www.bloomberg.com

2014 BEST COGNAC IN THE WORLD IS LOUIS ROYER EXTRA

Louis Royer did it again!

Louis Royer won 2014 best cognac in the world spirits competition with their Extra Grande Champagne.

Cognac Louis Royer Extra Grande Champagne

It is impressive to win it once but twice in a row really, hats up to Louis Royer.

Interestingly, they won last year in 2013 with a very different cognac, the 53% alc/vol VSOP. These two cognacs could not be more different. Well, this proves quality is not a matter of aging but expression.

Cognac Louis Royer VSOP 53%

The detailed and official results will be published in a little bit more than 1 week. So this is a scoop and a big surprise, as it is always hard to predict which cognac will get more attention from the jury from one year to another.

This year for the first time the San Francisco World Spirits Competition will also award "Best XO", "Best VSOP", and "Best VS" cognacs. So keep in touch to find out the list of winners within the next 10 days.

Source: images: www.louis-royer.com

REMY MARTIN IS USING ART TO MAKE DRINKING COGNAC MORE SEDUCTIVE

Recently, Remy Martin worked with art students on how to combine cognac with "the art of seduction". The cognac producer wanted to find a new way to appeal to the female drinker, since cognac appeals mostly to men.

Cognac Glass Ring By Remy Martin

Remy Martin completed this project with design students to make the "art of drinking cognac more seductive”. The students produced a set of beverage rings to serve as a dual purpose jewelry and proper drinking ware to take out to your party. Remy Martin is not going to sell these jewelry glasses but only displayed them in a couple art exhibitions. That is too bad since these were really novel ideas which where possibly going to get women really finally interested in drinking cognac.

Many clunky inventions have come along in recent years that aim to wear alcoholic beverages. First came the Wine Rack ($27.59), a sports bra with extra-long straws that's designed to be utilitarian. Then there was Baggy Winecoat ($44), the purse with a discrete spout to drink on the move. For the men there is the Flask Tie ($24.95), which come in 34 designs and can hold up to six ounces of liquid.

Cynthia Rowley, Flask Bangle

Cynthia Rowley's flask bangle may cost quite a bit more as it sells for $225 on CynthiaRowley.com than the above but it appears more intricate.

Photos Credits: Remy Martin and Cynthia Rowley