Rémy Martin

Last updated • 6 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

Rémy Martin
Founded1724;300 years ago (1724)
FounderE. Rémy Martin
Headquarters
Cognac, France
Products Cognac
RevenueIncrease2.svg €622.2 million (2023)
Parent Rémy Cointreau
Website remymartin.com

Rémy Martin (French pronunciation: [ʁemimaʁtɛ̃] ) is a French firm that primarily produces and sells cognac. Founded in 1724 and based in the commune of Cognac, it is among the oldest cognac producers still in existence. [1] and one of the "big four" cognac houses (along with Hennessy, Courvoisier and Martell), responsible for producing most of the world's cognac. [2] The brand specialises in creating Cognac Fine Champagne.

Contents

The brand is owned by the spirits conglomerate Rémy Cointreau, which it co-founded in 1990. Rémy Martin typically represents around 90% of the group's operating profit, [3] selling around 2.2 million nine-litre cases of cognac annually. [4]

Rémy Martin is also part of the Comité Colbert, an association "to promote the concept of luxury". [5]

History

Paul-Emile Remy Martin Paul-Emile Remy Martin.jpg
Paul-Emile Rémy Martin

The name Rémy Martin comes from the company founder, born in 1695 near Rouillac in southwestern France. A vintner by trade, in 1724 he created a cognac trading house. On his death in 1773, the business passed to his grandson, also named Rémy. [6] In 1841, Paul-Emile-Rémy Martin assumed control and oversaw great growth. He added a logo to the bottles and cases; a centaur after Sagittarius, Martin's own zodiac sign. The Rémy Martin logo continues; in China it's réntóumă (人头马), literally "man-headed horse". [7]

In the interwar period, André Renaud, a lawyer, merchant, and partner in E. Rémy Martin & Co. since 1910, took the lead. [6] In 1927, he launched VSOP Fine Champagne. Rémy Martin cognacs were then sold worldwide. After World War II, Rémy Martin continued to rise under André Hériard-Dubreuil, André Renaud's son-in-law. At the death of André Renaud in 1965, André Hériard-Dubreuil became president. [8] His children joined him, notably his daughter Dominique Hériard-Dubreuil who became general manager in 1988, and president two years later. In 1991, the House of Rémy Martin incorporated Rémy Cointreau into the business. [9]

In the 2010s Rémy Martin experienced a significant sales downturn after Chinese austerity measures targeted expensive gifts. [10]

Production

Remy Martin buildings Remy Martin Estate sign.JPG
Rémy Martin buildings

Rémy Martin cognacs have the Cognac Fine Champagne appellation, meaning they come only from a blend of eaux-de-vie from the Grande Champagne and Petite Champagne crus, with at least 50% Grande Champagne. Being from chalky soils, these eaux-de-vie have ageing potential and a particular aroma due to the terroir . In the 1960s, l’Alliance Fine Champagne (the Fine Champagne Alliance) was created by André Hériard Dubreuil of the House of Rémy Martin. This cooperative brings together vintners from Petite Champagne and Grande Champagne, and supplies almost 90% of the eaux-de-vie of the House. [11] Rémy Martin produces more than 80% of Fine Champagne cognacs.

Rémy Martin uses traditional distillation of the lees (sediment from grape fermentation) in small copper stills. Ageing takes place in oak barrels of the Limousin type, during which alcohol evaporates (the angels' share), blackening the walls of the cellar. The eau-de-vie evolves, punctuated by resting and changes of barrel. The exchanges of wood, oxygen and eaux-de-vie are constant.

Depending on which style is sought, cognac can age in young or old oak barrels, with stronger or finer grain in the staves. The oldest cognacs may be stored in glass demi-johns [12] (also called dame-jeannes) to prevent excessive evaporation. Finally, products from different aged spirits are mixed, to create a cognac.

The House’s current Cellar Master, Baptiste Loiseau, [13] took the position in 2014, at 34, [14] following André Renaud, André Giraud, Georges Clot, and Pierrette Trichet.

Products

Rémy Martin VSOP

Created in 1927, Rémy Martin VSOP is the biggest selling VSOP Cognac worldwide. The frosted bottle was introduced in 1972. [15]

Rémy Martin VSOP Mature Cask Finish

Exclusive to European markets, VSOP Mature Cask Finish was created in 2011. Originating from the same terroirs of Grande and Petite Champagne, with the same specifications for distillation, after the final blending, this cognac spends another year in 20-year old oak barrels.

Rémy Martin 1738 Accord Royal

Remy Martin 1738 Accord Royal Remy Martin 1738 ~Mitchell Hobbs~.jpg
Rémy Martin 1738 Accord Royal

Launched in 1997 and named after the royal decree issued in 1738 when King Louis XV granted the Accord Royal to Rémy Martin in honor of his craftsmanship.

Rémy Martin CLUB

Exclusive to China, CLUB was created in 1986 and features an octagonal-shaped bottle. In 2015, Rémy Martin launched the CLUB Connected Bottle, the first NFC-enabled spirits bottle featuring high-security anti-counterfeiting measures. [16]

Rémy Martin XO

Created by cellar master André Giraud in 1981, XO is a blend of up to 400 eaux-de-vie.

Rémy Martin Carte Blanche à Baptiste Loiseau

A single barrel blend selected by the cellar master, with all eaux-de-vie being at least twenty years old.

Rémy Martin Centaure De Diamant

Sold at an elevated price point, Centaure de Diamant uses only eaux-de-vie from the finest 10% of those available to Rémy Martin.

Rémy Martin Cellar Master Selection

Exclusive to duty free locations, Cellar 16 (Prime Cellar Selection) and Cellar 28 (Reserve Cellar Selection) are selected by the Cellar Master from aging cellars with unique characteristics.

Rémy Martin Louis XIII

Louis XIII cognac is produced and aged in oak barrels for 40–80 years in the Grande Champagne region of Cognac. [17]

Rémy Martin V

In 2010, Rémy Martin introduced its first clear spirit, Rémy Martin V, in the US. Rather than using the oak barrel aging process, the liquid undergoes a proprietary 14 °F (−10 °C) filtration process, giving it a transparent color and subtle taste with hints of pear and a fresh minty aftertaste. It is not a cognac, but an eau-de-vie de vin.

Marketing

The House of Rémy Martin partners with artists to represent its cognacs. These include Californian actor Jeremy Renner, Chinese actor and singer Huang Xiaoming, and Taiwanese mandopop singer Jolin Tsai. In 2008, the American photographer and director David LaChapelle created a bottle design. In 2013, Rémy Martin teamed up with American-Canadian singer and producer Robin Thicke to launch a limited edition of VSOP.

Rémy Martin can also be found in the world of rap, especially in the United States. Fetty Wap has frequently mentioned the 1738 variety in his work. [18]

Pete Townshend of rock band the Who wryly thanked Rémy Martin for saving his life "by making the bloody stuff so expensive" in the inner sleeve to his 1980 solo studio album Empty Glass . [19] He also referred to the drink in the lyrics to his single "A Little Is Enough" by singing "I'm like a connoisseur of champagne cognac, the perfume nearly beats the taste." [20] Townshend can also be seen drinking straight from a bottle of Rémy Martin in the music video to his song "Keep on Working".

Fellow Who member John Entwistle was also known for his love of the drink, [21] and included the V.S.O.P. grading on the cover to his 1973 solo studio album Rigor Mortis Sets In. It is an inscription on an outdoor grave's footstone, which was either the front cover or the photo used on the inside of the gatefold depending on where the record was issued.

The Dynasty and the Chinese market

In 1980, at the beginning of the Chinese economic reform, Rémy Martin ventured into China with the Dynasty brand (Dynasty Wine Ltd), the first foreign wine maker and the second joint-venture in all China.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brandy</span> Spirit produced by distilling wine

Brandy is a liquor produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains 35–60% alcohol by volume and is typically consumed as an after-dinner digestif. Some brandies are aged in wooden casks. Others are coloured with caramel colouring to imitate the effect of aging, and some are produced using a combination of aging and colouring. Varieties of wine brandy can be found across the winemaking world. Among the most renowned are Cognac and Armagnac from south-western France.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cognac</span> Style of brandy produced in France

Cognac is a variety of brandy named after the commune of Cognac, France. It is produced in the surrounding wine-growing region in the departments of Charente and Charente-Maritime.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metaxa</span> Spirit from Greece

Metaxa is a line of branded Greek alcoholic drinks, each a flavored amber blend of spirits and Muscat wine, aged in oak barrels, and packaged in amphora-shaped bottles. Several Metaxa products have numbered “star” designations indicating, according to different sources, either the product’s age, the number of base spirits and wines used in making it, or simply the quality level. Metaxa's main exported products are 5 Star, 7 Star, 12 Star, and Private Reserve.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cointreau</span> Brand of triple sec from Saint-Barthélemy-dAnjou, France

Cointreau is a brand of orange-flavoured triple sec liqueur produced in Saint-Barthélemy-d'Anjou, France. It is consumed as an apéritif and digestif, and is a component of several well-known cocktails. It was originally called Curaçao Blanco Triple Sec. Despite the orange bottle, Cointreau is colourless. Cointreau also produces Cointreau Noir, a blend of 70% Cointreau and 30% cognac from the House of Rémy Martin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Courvoisier</span> Brand of cognac

Courvoisier is a brand of cognac, with production based in the town of Jarnac in the Charente region of France. It is the youngest and smallest of the "big four" cognac houses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hennessy</span> French cognac producer

Jas Hennessy & Cie., commonly known simply as Hennessy, is a French producer of cognac, which has its headquarters in Cognac, France.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martell (cognac)</span> Brand of cognac

Martell is a cognac house founded in 1715 by Jean Martell. It is the oldest of the "big four" cognac houses, who together produce most of the world's cognac. Formerly owned by the Seagram spirits empire, it is now part of the Martell Mumm Perrier-Jouët (MMPJ) subsidiary of the French wines and spirits conglomerate Pernod Ricard. Martell's flagship Cordon Bleu, introduced in 1912, was for many years the world's highest-selling premium cognac.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cognac, France</span> Subprefecture and commune in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France

Cognac is a commune in the Charente department, southwestern France. Administratively, the commune of Cognac is a subprefecture of the Charente department.

Delamain is a producer of cognac, based in Jarnac, France. Delamain is one of the oldest Cognac houses and has been continuously family run since its establishment in 1824 although its roots in the cognac trade go back even further, beginning shortly after the arrival in France of Irishman James Delamain in 1751. Nine generations later, James's direct descendant, Charles Braastad, serves as Delamain Cognac's Managing Director.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grande Champagne</span> French district

Grande Champagne is a French district, called a cru, known for its cognac. It produces the finest cognacs in a zone of 34703 hectares, of which 17% is dedicated to production of cognac, which can be marked as Grande Champagne or Grande Fine Champagne. At its heart is the town of Segonzac, in the Département of Charente. Grande Champagne is situated entirely in this département.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Armagnac</span> Style of brandy produced in France

Armagnac is a distinctive kind of brandy produced in the Armagnac region in Gascony, southwest France. It is distilled from wine usually made from a blend of grapes including Baco 22A, Colombard, Folle blanche and Ugni blanc, traditionally using column stills. This is in contrast to the pot stills used in the production of cognac, which is made predominantly from ugni blanc grapes. The resulting spirit is aged in oak barrels before release. Production is overseen by the Institut national de l'origine et de la qualité (INAO) and the Bureau National Interprofessionel de l'Armagnac (BNIA).

Gosset, founded in 1584, is the oldest wine house in Champagne. In 1584, Pierre Gosset, alderman of Aÿ and wine-grower, made still, mostly red, wines from the grapes he harvested from his own vines. In those days, two wines vied for pride of place at the table to the Kings of France: the wine of Aÿ and, from some hundreds of leagues further South, the wine of Beaune. Then, in the 18th century the wine made in around Aÿ began to bubble and the Gosset family turned naturally to the production of champagne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Petite Champagne</span>

Petite Champagne is a geographic zone of Cognac production of approximately 66,000 hectares, of which about 15,000 are dedicated to wines destined for cognac, which can be marked as Petite Champagne or Petite Fine Champagne. It is situated in the départements of Charente and Charente-Maritime. The principal towns of the region are Barbezieux (Charente), Archiac and Jonzac (Charente-Maritime). In order of importance among the cognac crus (regions), Petite Champagne is second in place after Grande Champagne. While having similar characteristics, the cognacs of Petite Champagne have always been considered of a lesser quality than those of Grande Champagne. Geologically, this region is composed of a thinner layer of Calcareous material than Grande Champagne. A blend of Grande and Petite Champagne Cognacs, with at least half the eaux-de-vie coming from Grande Champagne, is known as Fine Champagne.

Fins Bois is a wine producing sub-region within the Cognac appellation, geographically surrounding the sub-regions of Grande Champagne, Petite Champagne and Borderies, and which falls within both the Charente and Charente-Maritime departments in South-West France, just north of Bordeaux.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rémy Cointreau</span> French alcoholic beverage company

Rémy Cointreau is a French, family-owned business group specialized in the production and distribution of alcoholic beverages. The group's products include cognac, triple sec (Cointreau), the Greek spirit Metaxa, rum, brandy (St-Rémy), gin and whisky. The group, whose origins date back to 1724, was formed in 1990 after the merger of Rémy Martin and Cointreau. Rémy Cointreau also owns the fragrance company Maison Psyché.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louis XIII (cognac)</span> Type of cognac made by Rémy Martin

Louis XIII is a cognac produced by Rémy Martin, a company headquartered in Cognac, France, and owned by the Rémy Cointreau Group. The name was chosen as a tribute to King Louis XIII of France, the reigning monarch when the Rémy Martin family settled in the Cognac region. He was the first monarch to recognize cognac as a category in its own right in the world of eaux-de-vie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barbezieux-Saint-Hilaire</span> Commune in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France

Barbezieux-Saint-Hilaire is a commune in the Charente department, Southwestern France. The commune was formed in 1973 by the merger of the former communes Barbezieux and Saint-Hilaire. With 4,714 inhabitants (2019), it forms the most important town in Southern Charente.

This glossary of winemaking terms lists some of terms and definitions involved in making wine, fruit wine, and mead.

Jean-Sébastien Robicquet, was born on the 20th of September 1966 in Bègles, France. He is a French oenologist, entrepreneur, master-distiller and company director. He founded EuroWineGate in 2001 which became Maison Villevert in 2016.

Rome De Bellegarde is a Cognac from France. It is produced in the Grande Champagne region of Cognac. It is most notable for setting the record for the expensive liquor shot of 1.5 ounce measure costing more than $14k at Hyde Kensington Bar in London in 2018. The shot was believed to originate from a blend created in 1894.

References

  1. ↑ Rothbaum, Noah (2021). The Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails. Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0-19-931113-2.
  2. ↑ Rothbaum, Noah (2021). The Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails. Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0-19-931113-2.
  3. ↑ Guilford, Gwynn (26 November 2013). "Rémy Cointreau went on a bender in China and now it has a hangover". Quartz. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  4. ↑ "Rémy Martin cognac's global sales volume 2020". Statista. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  5. ↑ Chevalier, Michel; Gerald Mazzalovo (2012). "3". Luxury Brand Management (second ed.). Singapore: John Wiley & Sons. pp. 51–52. ISBN   978-1-118-17176-9.
  6. 1 2 Dictionnaire biographique des Charentais, (Charentais biographical dictionary), Editions Le Croît Vif, (The Living Growth), 2005, p. 1107–1110.
  7. ↑ "人头马VSOP图片". nipic.com (in Chinese). 23 February 2012. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  8. ↑ "Les Hériard Dubreuil". Les Echos.[ permanent dead link ]
  9. ↑ Jacquin, Jean-Baptiste (16 December 1991). "La fusion de Rémy et Associés avec Pavis donne naissance à un grand groupe". Les Echos (in French). Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  10. ↑ "Rémy Cointreau still in decline after latest results released – Harpers Wine & Spirit Trade News". harpers.co.uk. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  11. ↑ Ménard, Philippe (29 December 2016). "Charente : les quatre révolutions d'Alliance Fine Champagne – A La Une Cognac". Sud Ouest (in French). Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  12. ↑ McGrew, G. (3 January 2013). "Cognac in Demi-Johns or Dame-Jeanne? Which is Correct?". Cognac.com. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  13. ↑ "A Day In The Life With The Alchemist Baptiste Loiseau". Haute Living. 15 October 2015. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  14. ↑ "Rémy Martin : un jeune visage pour de vieux cognacs". Terre de Vins (in French). 13 April 2014. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  15. ↑ "Rémy Martin And Chef Kwame Onwuachi Launch Summer Culinary Series: "Flavor by the Grill" – About Rémy Martin 1738 Accord Royal". Yahoo! Money . 29 July 2020. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
  16. ↑ "Rémy Martin & Selinko Launch First Ever Connected Bottle with High Security NFC Technology to Spirits Market". Business Wire. July 2015.
  17. ↑ Parr, Christopher; Helene; Beaulieu, Max; Richiardone, Federica; Wong, Patricia; Colaianni, Andrea (27 May 2012). "Our Louis XIII experience in Cognac". cognacfans.com. Archived from the original on 3 October 2017. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  18. ↑ McKinney, Kelsey. "Here's how many times someone says "1738" on Fetty Wap's new album". Fusion. Fusion Media Network. Archived from the original on 22 August 2016. Retrieved 24 July 2016.
  19. ↑ Empty Glass (CD booklet). Pete Townshend. Atco Records. 1980.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  20. ↑ "Pete Townshend – A Little is Enough".
  21. ↑ "Reflections on John Entwistle". 11 July 2012.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.