Life in Cognac is not that bad, according to Madame Dominique Heriard Dubreiul. It would be better still, she says, if she could take advantage of new markets in South-East Asia and Eastern Europe and also alter the image of the cognac drinker in its traditional markets, such as the UK, France and Australia. You don’t have to don smoking jacket and slippers to slip the top from the XO decanter, she suggests, nor do you have to wait until the end of the meal. Mme Heriard Dubreuil has been the Chairman and Managing Director of Remy Martin since 1990, having joined her family company in 1988 after a twenty-year career in international public relations. Chic and almost disarmingly straightforward, she takes an energetic and hands-on approach to Remy Martin and its intricate web of affiliated organisations. To speak with her is to experience a fascinating glimpse at the machinations of an extraordinarily capital and stock-intensive luxury product business which, at the end of the day, relies on the same good fortune required by all who make their living from the land. Take 1991 for instance. Mme Heriard Dubreuil remembers to the day – April 21 – that the vineyards of the most prestigious growths in Cognac, named ‘Grande Champagne’, lost 70% of their crops in a spiteful frost. It hailed the following July, again ripping the heart from the crop of the Grande Champagne. Mme Heriard Dubreuil lives in the centre of this famous area, and although the vineyards adjacent to her home were devastated, her garden escaped unharmed. She loves her garden, but would have preferred it the other way around. The business of cognac is an endless logistical puzzle in which one seeks to balance the stock one can afford with current needs, production levels with stock reserves, market strengths with distribution, prices and international trade balances. Its success can be influenced by politics, currency values, market trends and attitudes. And since 96.5% of Remy Martin’s production is sold at VSOP level (against the average for Cognac of 54%), the vast bulk of its product is only sold after 7 or 8 years of maturation. Remy Martin correctly forecast growth in demand for more mature cognacs and so holds back more old stock than any other producer. To manage its reserves efficiently must require an entire warehouse of crystal balls. Mme Heriard Dubreuil is quite convinced that younger cognacs do not sit so well as a prestige product as older cognacs. Indeed, there is less cognac sold as VS today than was the case three years ago. It’s my own view that cognac needs around twelve to fifteen years of age before it begins to attain the quality for which it is sought after – about the same age as malt whisky reaches its ultimate peak. Possibly referring to malt whisky, Mme Heriard Dubreuil concedes that younger cognac is ‘not really a competitive product compared to some others you can find in the market’. Remy Martin focuses its attention towards Fine Champagne Cognac (at least half of which must come from Grande Champagne and no more than half from the second-ranking district, Petite Champagne), so the value of all that cognac sitting there is potentially astronomic. But Mme Heriard Dubreuil says they would be virtually worthless if released to the market all at once. Some of it, she says, won’t see light of day for a generation or two – at least fifty years if it is to become part of the nectar-like Louis XIII. Until 1990 Japan was the jewel in cognac’s crown. Unashamedly wealthy and brazenly prepared to live up to its income, Japan soaked up its top-grade cognac by the shipful. Then recession hit, forcing Remy Martin to re-introduce its VSOP to Japan as its frontline cognac. By lowering its sights in that market, and with the emergence of a more competitive and less complicated liquor distribution and retail system in Japan, Remy has almost climbed back to its pre-recession sales, at what one assumes to be reduced profitability. Mme Heriard Dubreuil notes that the Japanese recession is slowing and thoroughly expects it to restore its cognac usage to former levels. Recession, renewed health awareness and tougher drink-driving legislation have all affected cognac’s popularity in Europe, especially in Britain, once the cornerstone of cognac’s market. Mme Heriard Dubreuil is determined to restore cognac’s usage in these countries, suggesting that cognac is consumed with more flexibility in other parts of the world. If traditional cognac markets are slowing on one hand, new markets are emerging on the other. The opening up of mainland China has linked Chinese communities around the world back to those in China itself, says Mme Heriard Dubreuil, creating opportunities for cognac to spread into a huge and distinctly sympathetic market. Commenting that the Chinese invariably conduct their business around or before a banquet, she asks: ‘Is there anything else you would drink at a Chinese banquet apart from cognac?’ ‘In warmer countries than France, people enjoy VSOP on ice’, she says. ‘At Chinese banquets I’m happy to drink XO with water, although you have to be careful with the quality of the water’, she suggests as my thoughts turned to Adelaide. ‘The complexity of the eaux de vie is such that I still get something from it.’ Maybe, but I’d still feel dreadful doing that to XO. Mme Heriard Dubreuil would like people to use different levels of cognac for different times of the day, but is finding that a hard message to sell to a very conservative younger French generation. ‘They are used to the idea of drinking cognac at the end of a meal, but this is the very time they are trying to be sensible; even if it’s too late by then,’ she says.
