Coffee - Cognac with a theme:

What is the responsibility of the writer in the achievement of freedom? Such was the theme of the tenth edition of cognac's European 'literary salon'. Many important writers, among which South-African André Brink, Albanian Ismael Kadaré, Vladimir Volkoff and many more gathered in Cognac in order to exchange views with a concerned public.

In the hallways, writers and publishers talked about the influence of multimedia in their work, while contributing to the Interactive novel Cadavres Exquis. All awarded Cognac First prize for the quality and elegance of its gourmet welcome.

Cognac welcomes 250.000 visitors.

It was a great year for Cognac regarding the number of visitors: over 250.000 people have already gone through the doors of the different cognac houses. They were more motivated and spent more money than ever. The efforts of both the city and the cognac house themselves are starting to pay out: Martell’s sailing barge, the new Hennessy tour, and the systematic prospecting of tourist places in the area are the main reasons for this new success. The next step will be the improvement of the accommodation capacity for business groups and congresses, as well as the conviviality of the tourist information center.

L &L is expanding.

With the growing success of its product range, L & L, inventor of Alizé, wants to move its premises to Cognac. They are planning on new distillation, warehouse and bottling capacities.

Taxation over Cognac.

Cognac and pineau des Charentes are fighting against abusive taxes: in France, cognac is taxed 60 times more than wine, and pineau is taxed 4 times more than natural sweet wines. Although very lucrative for the government’s budget, these taxes are slowing down sales and penalizing producers’ efforts who are also cornered by the Evin law. The only good news is that the Department of Agriculture finally offers his visitors cognac as a long-drink (instead of whisky?).

French-speaking world

Francis Hardy, mayor of Cognac, during Jacques Chirac’s trip to Vietnam, declared at a party where cognac was served: "Cognac is the most subtle language of the French-speaking world."
Thank you Mister Mayor!

Eaux-de-vie University
For the start of the school year in Segonzac, the new class is expecting to receive a very high and unique level of education that is greatly appreciated throughout the largest spirit companies around the world. The University also organizes weekly training courses with different themes: methods of distillation in Charentes will be coming next.

Cognac sales

Although stable over the past twelve months, cognac sales have improved over the past two months. The average sales price has slightly increased thanks to the dollar exchange rate.

The European recommends the Romeo & Juliett Cedros Deluxe n° 2 as being best with old cognacs. With its combination of aroma and extreme subtelty, this cigar does not alter the taste of old cognacs.

Retail trends

It is the turn of large distribution to promote cognac as a long drink. Auchan supermarkets are selling a V.S. Cognac in a special bottle that they have positionned in the aperitif section of the store. We wish them success.

Still on the long-drink subject, the town of Segonzac (the capital of Grande Champagne) has organized with success the first " Cognac Night ". Their clear goal is to supersede grain alcohols as being the main night drink. If the great atmosphere there was at the party can be exported, we can have high hopes for the future of cognac as a long-drink.

The USF wine experts were thrilled by the tasting of cognac as a long-drink. " Once tasted, it's in the bag ". It is in Paris, the fashion capital, that the gamer will be played.

Next week : Consuming trends around the world…An exclusive survey.

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