Hine CEO: ‘Doors closed’ to Cognac innovation

Cognac producers are working in a “static” legal environment which limits innovation, prompting brands to think creatively in order to stand out from the crowd, Hine’s CEO has claimed.

Francois Le Grelle, CEO of Hine, believes the doors of innovation are “closed for Cognac today”

Speaking to The Spirits Business, Francoise Le Grelle, chief executive of Hine Cognac, said Cognac producers are less able to innovate than other spirit categories due to its strict regulations.

“We are in an environment that is very static from a legal point of view, and change is very difficult for Cognac,” he said.

“There is not a lot of innovation here in the same way as vodka or gin, which have more flexibility. These doors are closed for Cognac today.”

Single vineyard

His comments come as the house launches Domaines Hine Bonneuil 2005 – a single vineyard, single harvest expression sourced from Hine’s 70 hectares of vineyards in the prime Grande Champagne enclave of Bonneuil. The bottling is also devoid of caramel colouring.

In a bid to demonstrate innovation, Hine will release a number of single estate bottlings when cellarmaster Eric Forget believes the vintage is good enough.

In addition to demonstrating the “freshness” of younger Cognacs, Le Grelle claims the release allows Hine to “show the terroir and vineyards within our estates”.

“The single vineyard Cognac is a natural step for us,” he continued. “It represents what the vines have to offer and what kind of quality the vineyard is capable of delivering.

“Single vineyards will remain very niche and in-line with the vintage we have to offer. It is a time capsule of what happened on that particular year, in that particular vineyard. It offers exclusivity as single vineyard isn’t the norm.”

Le Grelle added that while a single vineyard expressions offers a unique selling point for Hine, it is a difficult category to enter.

“We are not talking about a blend here,” he said. “The challenge for us is there is not room for compromise or mistakes with a single batch. We cannot hide with any additional flavours or techniques.”

For a more in-depth look at the single estate spirits category, see the February 2015 issue of The Spirits Business.