On location: Celebrating 300 years of Cognac craftsmanship with Rémy Martin
Opened in April 2024, Rémy Martin’s 'Historic House' invites visitors to immerse themselves in the history of the brand
Since it opened in April 2024, after three years of renovation, Rémy Martin's 'Historic House' in Southwest France has seen visitors flock from all over the world to immerse themselves in the history of the brand. The experience, which is located at the original 19th century site in Cognac town, begins by telling the story of the importance of the terroirs of the Grand and Petite Champagne crus, where Rémy Martin’s wine grower communities (called the Fine Champagne Alliance), grow the grapes that will become prized eaux-de-vie and then crafted into cognac through aging and blending expertise.
When Global Travel Retail Magazine visited, the trip also included a tour of the huge Merpins warehouses, where around 140,00 casks of maturing eaux-de-vie lie patiently, housed in 32 cellars.
GTR Magazine's Alison Farrington and Amaury Vinclet, Executive Director, Rémy Martin
Museum experience
The museum curators sourced many historical artefacts, from official royal warrants to rare bottles containing liquids from early nineteenth century blends. An art gallery displaying a collection of centaur statues and paintings reminds guests how the iconic Rémy Martin emblem has remained an inspirational figure across branding and advertising over the years.
Visitors can also see the building’s historic Le Chai Francis cellar where an immersive 3D digital mapping experience uses light projections to visualize the house’s production process.
Spending time with Rémy Martin's Executive Director, Amaury Vinclet, it’s clear this year’s tricentenary celebrations – which have included a number of special expressions, a limited-edition Coupe blend, an airport pop-up experience, not to mention the refurbished visitor center – all point to the brand’s DNA of craftsmanship and focus on expertise.
“The Rémy Martin ‘Historic Maison’ experience is about celebrating our patrimony; our history personified, the codes and culture of our savoire-faire that we want to share with consumers who visit us here in Cognac,” says Vinclet.
The Le Chai Francis cellar where visitors can experience immersive 3D digital mapping light projections to visualize the house’s production process
Opulent Table
“At Rémy Martin, we want to encourage people to discover new rituals. New generations look for new experiences.
“We have a very traditional approach to creation, but a very modern approach to consumption because it's all about an experience. With Rémy Martin, people appreciate it's a moment that is about tasting a good cognac. So, we created the Opulent Table experience,” says Vinclet.
He describes this as a luxurious cognac pairing session designed to showcase different aromas and tastes. “There is a lot of complexity – many people find cognac intimidating – so we created a banquet table where we display some complementary local ingredients that celebrate French delicacies from our region that are representative of the aromas of our XO,” Vinclet explains.
This experience goes hand in hand with Rémy Martin’s strategy of partnerships. “We were built through different partnerships, first with the wine growers, but also with our top retailers around the world. They connect us to new prospective fans of Rémy Martin. This experience is for them,” he adds.
Cellar Master, Baptiste Loiseau, blending eaux-de-vie destined to be Rémy Martin cognac
Blending for the future
While the VSOP, XO, Club and luxury Louis XIII products have enduring appeal for Cognac lovers, Rémy Martin’s limited edition 300th anniversary Coupe blend for 2024 and the latest exclusive Tercet and L'Étape cognacs, showcase how Cellar Master Baptiste Loiseau is evolving the house’s attitudes to blending its aged eaux-de-vie stocks.
Loiseau talks of the need for an ongoing balance between the company’s craftsmanship and provenance via its 800-strong community of wine growers that produce the eaux-de-vie needed to make cognac.
“A cellar master has the freedom to be much more creative when it's a question of innovation, so creating a new product like I did with Tercet or with the anniversary Coupe blend are still corresponding to the DNA of the house. I'm working to elaborate this anniversary plan – using the company’s Réserve Perpétuelle, a collection of exceptional eaux-de-vie, and paying this practice forward. We want to develop more eco-agriculture methods to protect our prized terroirs,” says Vinclet.
Rémy Martin’s pop-up in Paris featured a VR experience to transport travelers to the house’s home of Cognac
Big year for GTR
2024 has been a big year for Rémy Martin to do exciting, meaningful activations in travel retail, says Fida Bou Chabke, CEO GTR, who notes the tricentenary year carried the theme of 'We Dream Forward,' representing a strategy to focus on heritage, experience, innovation and customization.
“In 2024 we wanted to highlight several special editions in travel retail, which kick started with the limited edition Rémy Martin Dragon XO for Lunar New Year and the 300th anniversary Coupe that is very special eaux-de-vie from our perpetual reserve,” she says.
The brand’s pop-up during the Olympics at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport was designed to celebrate the experience of Cognac virtually. “This pop-up was where we really took time to craft the Rémy Martin experience for travelers and to combine the story of our heritage, our distillation process and digital immersion in our vineyards – to actually see all of this through VR – and to highlight the aromas of Cognac with food pairings too,” she adds.
The partnership between Extime Duty Free and Lagardere Travel Retail produced great results in Paris that Bou Chabke was “very happy with.” The high PAX traffic for the Olympics obviously helped but it meant the brand was exposed to a very diverse mix of travelers, she says. The pop-up is due next in November in Dubai in partnership with Dubai Duty Free.
