I am a little sad to see Marnier-Lapostolle go to Campari Group ($761M). It reminds me when Volkswagen bought Bentley in the 1990s. The name Marnier-Lapostolle is deep rooted in the Cognac region, and it is far away from Milano.
Not easy to keep a family business going for more than 150 years inside a family.
Some key figures:
1827: Establishment of the Marnier-Lapostolle distillery in Neauphle-le-château, Yvelines, Paris region.
1880: Creation of Grand-Marnier liquor.
1880: Creation of Grand-Marnier liquor.
1919: Purchase of Vineyard with Chateau de Sancerre.
1921: Purchase of castle in village of Bourg-Charente, Cognac region.
- Marnier Lapostolle Castle in Bourg-Charente, Cognac
1994: Starts wine business in Chile.
2013: 100% of Grand Marnier moved in Bourg-Charente.
Marnier-Lapostolle was in recent years the 5th largest buyers of cognac from the region since 60% of the Grand Marnier recipe composed of cognac, with about 12 million bottles sold per year.
Grand Marnier is exported in about 150 countries and the USA accounts for 60%, while Europe = 30%, Asia 10%, and France 8%.
Lapostolle Wines in Chile is composed of 370 hectares, with 3 vineyards and an annual production of 200,000 cases.
Once a year the Marnier-Lapostolle Castle in Bourg-Charente was opened to the public and mostly full of locals which really enjoyed visiting it. I wonder if this tradition will be kept!
History is made!
