hristophe Fillioux and his father Pascal in the cellars of Cognac Jean Fillioux’s La Pouyade estate near Juillac-le-Coq
The great houses of Cognac and Armagnac are rooted in family names – from the arrival in the Charente of Jersey native Jean Martell in 1715, to the decision nine years later by local wine-grower Rémy Martin to start bottling spirit under his own name.
Hennessy Cognac founder Richard Hennessy was an Irish officer in the army of Louis XV, while Emmanuel Courvoisier laid the foundations for the eponymous Jarnac Cognac house when he joined Louis Gallois in business in 1796. Further south, in the town of Condom, Pierre Etienne Janneau started his Armagnac business, in association with Joseph Dubourdieu, in 1851.
Over the centuries, these leading producers have passed into the hands of multinational companies and large conglomerates – in late 2023, it was announced that Italy’s Campari Group had agreed to buy Courvoisier from the Beam Suntory group in a deal worth up to US$1.2bn. Family business, you might say, has become big business.
But, beyond these mega-brands, family connections still run deep in both regions, and in the vineyards and cellars of some of their most quality-conscious producers.
Generation game
Some of these links march back through the centuries. The Frapin family have been wine-growers in Cognac since 1270 – that’s 21 generations and counting. They’ve been bottling supremely elegant and expressive Cognacs from their 240ha of vines at Château de Fontpinot for just over a century now.
By contrast,
