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New Renault Cognac innovation inspired by coffee
Cognac brand Renault has created a new innovation that has “never been seen in the industry before” – an expression specifically designed to pair with coffee.
Renault Avec is described as an “innovative new approach to Cognac”
Cellar master David Croizet has designed the new bottling – called Renault Avec – to offer “enhanced notes of roasted mocha and vanilla and a structure that is smooth and round”.
Croizet and his team achieved the taste profile by plunging barrels into tanks containing hot water before being brasero toasted.
This process is repeated three times, which Renault says is a first for the Cognac industry. Its purpose is to provide “notes of torrefaction” – that is, mild decomposition as a result of heating wood.
The Cognac’s eaux-de-vie blend consists of Fins Bois, Petite Champagne and Grande Champagne, which are all aged for between three and eight years, but the final bottling does not carry an age-statement.
Jérôme Durand, managing director of Cognac Renault, said “This is a totally new take on Cognac. We wanted to simplify the labelling and get away from the traditional strictures of age designation, which are often lost on the consumer and even some professionals.”
The inspiration for Avec came from one of Cognac Renault’s largest markets, the Nordics, where asking for “a coffee with” is shorthand for “a coffee with Cognac”.
“We have created a taste that is totally new to Renault and has never been seen in Cognac before,” added Croizet.
He added: “We were not looking for a big, powerful Cognac but one that complements good coffee.”
Renault Avec targets a “new generation” of coffee houses that have alcohol licenses and attract younger legal drinking age consumers. It is available now through the on-trade and premium independent off-trade, as well as travel retail markets, as an RRP of €45 (US$55.85).
Despite the strict laws that regulate their industry, Cognac producers are increasingly seeking to enhance their innovation offering. Last year, Courvoisier launched a Sherry cask-finished expression, and claimed to be the first major Cognac house to do so.
Back in 2014, Hine Cognac channeled the wine world with the launch of its single estate, single vintage Bonneuil series.