HENNESSY COGNAC IS PART OF LVMH: LIST OF 62 LVMH BRANDS

You are probably aware of what the acronym LVMH stands for?

Yes, you are correct Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy. LVMH is the largest luxury group in the world with records sales (+/- $30 billion) and profits (+/- $5 billion) in 2012, and 62 luxury brands in its portfolio.

LVMH 5 Champagnes

10 Cane Rum
Acqua di Parma
Belvedere
BeneFit Cosmetics
Berluti
Bodega Chandon Argentina
Bon Marche Rive Gauche
Bulgari
Cape Mentelle
Celine
Chateau Cheval Blanc
Chateau d’Yquem
Chaumet
Cheval Blanc - Hotels
Cheval des Andes
Christian Dior Parfums
Cloudy Bay
De Beers
DFS
Dom Perignon
Domaine Chandon Australia
Domaine Chandon California
Donna Karan
Edun
Emillo Pucci
Fendi
Fendi Parfums
Fred
Fresh
Givenchy
Givenchy Parfums
Glenmorangie Company
Guerlain
Hennessy
Hublot
Kenzo
Kenzo Parfums
Krug
Le Jardin D’Acclimatation - Activity Park
Les Echos - Publications
Loewe
Loewe Parfums
Louis Vuitton
Make Up For Ever
Marc Jacobs
Mercier
Miami Cruise Line Services
Moet & Chandon
Newton Vineyard
Nowness
Nude
Numanthia
Royal Van Lent - Yachts
Ruinart
Samaritaine
Sephora
Tag Heuer
Terrazas de los Andes
Thomas Pink
Veuve Clicquot
Wenjun
Zenith

LVMH majority of its brands are in the wine & spirits industry with Hennessy being the leading brand. Cognac is alive and kicking!

Source: www.lvmh.com

XAVIER LOUIS VUITTON LAUNCHES WINES IN CHINA

A fifth-generation family member of the Louis Vuitton dynasty has launched a wine in Hong Kong developed specifically to cater to the Asian palate.

Wines Xavier Louis Vuitton

Winemaker Xavier-Louis Vuitton’s XLV, an exclusive private label, was developed with the Asian drinker in mind, a palate that favors fruit-driven notes and softer tannins in red wines, reports industry publication The Drinks 

While XLV has no connection with the Louis Vuitton brand or LVMH, the family connection and name recognition is sure to sway consumers in brand-obsessed Hong Kong, notes the story.

Vuitton owns a wine estate near the village of Apt in southern France, which he manages with his son Quentin-Louis who acts as cellar master.

Only the Ventoux wine is made from Vuitton’s estate grapes, while others are made with grapes from the Bordeaux, Rhone, and Champagne regions.

The XLV brand is available through Hong Kong-based online retailer yeswine.com, with prices ranging from HK $360 (€36) for the XLV Ventoux 2010, to HK $2,450 for the XLV Pauillac 2007 or €242.

While Xavier-Louis may be developing a wine made with French grapes for Chinese drinkers, another brand within the LVMH family Moet Hennessy has set its sights on China as a wine-producing nation in its own right, snapping up estates in Shangri-La county in Yunnan Province.

Similarly, Chateau Lafite Rothschild has also begun work on a vineyard in the Penglai region of China’s eastern Shandong province to cater to the country’s growing thirst for premium luxury wines.

China is the fifth largest wine market by volume in the world, having recently knocked Britain into sixth place.

I am a little perplex by this situation. On one hand you cannot stop someone to call their wines their name, but on the other hand you can be sure that a great deal of these wines will be purchased on the basis of the name recognition, and more important on the brand association and confusion with a legitimate product from the LVMH group. This could get messy!

Source: Luxuo.com

Source Photo: www.xlvwine.com

Read more: Louis Vuitton family launches wine for Chinese market | LUXUO Luxury Blog http://www.luxuo.com/wines-spirits/xavier-louis-vuitton-xlv-wines.html#ixzz2EUTHxDz6

WORLD BEST SOMMELIER IN THE WORLD: WHAT IT TAKES TO BECOME ONE?

The 14th Best Sommelier of the World will take place in Japan Tokyo, on 27th, 28th and 29th March 2013.

The candidates and official delegations from over fifty countries are expected in Tokyo on the 26th at Grand Prince Hotel Takanawa where the quarter final (27th) and semi-final (28th) are planned.

The final, on the 29th afternoon, will gather the three best candidates and will take place at the International Forum in a room for 5 000 people.

The Gala dinner, for 600 guests, is planned at the Imperial Hotel.

The international official sponsors, supporting this event, are Arc International, Moët & Chandon, San Pellegrino & Acqua Panna, Nespresso, Suntory, Hess Family Estates, the CIVA, ViniPortugal, Wines of Austria, SommelierS International, Entaste and Vinexpo.

Women are increasingly competing and winning the title of best sommelier in their countries.

Veronique Rivest - Best Sommelier

The title of 2012 best sommelier of America, meaning from Argentina to Canada, was won by a woman from Quebec Canada named Véronique Rivest who already won in 2009. Véronique is a wine writer for the newspaper Le Droit and for Radio-Canada in Ottawa, she also write for many food magazines and food TV networks. She will be contesting the world competition for the 3rd time in 2013, '3rd time is a charm' as they say.

However, never a women won Best World Sommelier. This time there is a dozen of women competing among the 50 candidates so it could be a woman world champion.

Most winners are from France, but the world is changing and France has to share its premium wines and top sommeliers with other countries gravitating in status.

List of Past Winners of the World Best Sommelier:
2010 Santiago, Chile: Gerard Basset, United Kingdom
2007 Rhodes, Greece: Andreas Larsson, Sweden
2004 Athens, Greece: Enrico Bernardo, Italy
2000 Montreal, Quebec: Olivier Poussier, France
1998 Vienna Austria: Markus del Monego, Germany
1995 Tokyo, Japan: Shinya Tasaki, Japan
1992 Rio del Janeiro, Brazil: Philippe Faure-Brac, France
1989 Paris, France: Serge Dubs, France
1986 Venice, Italy: Jean-Claude Jambon, France
1983 Brussels, Belgium: Jean-Luc Pouteau,France
1978 Lisbon, Portugal: Guiseppe Vaccarini, Italy
1971 Milan, Italy: Pietro Sattanino, Italy
1969 Brussels, Belgium: Armand Melkonian, France

The competition includes the obvious wine blind tastings, pairings and descriptions, but it also contains customer service evaluations such as opening a magnum of Champagne, and written examinations related to testing knowledge on climate, production, geology, viticulture, history, etc...

Sources:

http://www.veroniquerivest.com
http://www.sommellerie-internationale.com

DISTELL CHINA IS FOCUSING ON COGNAC BISQUIT AND AMARULA FIRST

South African wine and spirits producer Distell has expanded its global presence with the acquisition of a 60% share in fast-growing Chinese liquor distribution firm CJ Wines & Spirits.

Amarula Cream and Cognac Bisquit from South African Spirit Company Distell

CJ Wines & Spirits is based in Zhongshan in the Pearl Valley Delta of Guandong province in southeast China and has operations in Hong Kong, Macau and mainland China.

The new venture - now trading as Distell China - is headed by managing director Rody Wong, who previously ran CJ Wines & Spirits.

Wong has established a strong support base for cognac brand Bisquit that Distell bought in 2009.

"The partnership with Distell creates the opportunity to accelerate the excellent progress achieved thus far with two of the company’s major brands Bisquit and Amarula," Wong said in a statement.

Wong said that Distell China’s focus will be on building the presence of Bisquit in the southern part of the country initially. South China is referred to as the country’s "cognac belt" as this is where most cognac is consumed.

The Far East is now the world's biggest importer of cognac, with turnover exceeding US$1.25-billion.

"CJ’s conversancy with the cognac market is an important asset, and we plan to bring this expertise in marketing to retail and on-consumption channels, to Amarula, which is currently one of the fastest-growing spirits brands worldwide," Wong said.

According to Distell Group managing director Jan Scannell, the plan is to capitalise on the strong market potential of South China and then address markets such as Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu.

"The new venture will carry spirits and wines from around the world, and that obviously gives us the scope to explore avenues for some of our other brands," he said.

He added that the priority for Distell China was to focus on Bisquit and Amarula before considering other brands within the company’s portfolio for distribution.

Source: SouthAfrica.info

JAY-Z VIDEO IN MIAMI LAUNCHING COGNAC D'USSE

[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/55472532 w=500&h=281]

Sunday, December 9th - Jay-Z hosted his official D’USSÉ Cognac launch party at LIV Nightclub on South Beach. D’USSÉ is Jay Z’s joint venture with spirit giant Bacardi.

Once again, Jay-Z and Barcardi turn to trusted party promoter Michael Gardner, CEO of Headliner Market Group for his magnetic appeal to key influencers in South Florida; for the unveiling of the highly anticipated “ bold new expression of cognac”, DUSSÉ. Miami will be a key market for the brand launch and its on-going distribution. Continue to follow Headliner Market Group for access to the latest in nightlife on twitter @Headlinerworld.

Jay-Z's wife Beyoncé and a host of friends (Fabolous, Flo Rida, The Dream, Kelly Rowland, Paris Hilton, Floyd Mayweather, Young Chris, Memphis Bleek, DJ Clue, DJ Stevie J, Don P, Teyana Taylor, Teairra Mari, Pusha T, Claudia Jordan) were in attendance to support the launch. A special surprise performance by Trinidad James.

Click the link for a recap video with highlights of the night provided by Headliner Market Group: https://vimeo.com/55472532

JAY Z IS LAUNCHING IS COGNAC, COGNAC D'USSE THIS WEEKEND IN MIAMI

Cognac D'Usse by Jay-Z

Jay-Z and his cognac, i.e., Cognac D'Usse are having launch parties in Miami this weekend.

This will be fun events. Let us know if you go!

Cognac D'Usse by Jay-Z



WHEN AND HOW TO DRINK COGNAC: FIRST LET'S REVIEW THE 'WHAT NOT TO DO LIST'.

It is often that people ask me on how and when one should drink cognac. In fact, this is not a simple question as there are many ways and many opportunities one should favor cognac.

Cognac is not seasonal as many people think: in other words, not just for the Winter months, and not just a sipping spirit. Cognac is much more versatile that many people think.

But first, one should take his time and savour it bit by bit, little by little. Cognac is about the moment!

First here is what not to do with cognac.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkU3AvejRBg?rel=0&w=420&h=315]