Winegrower Cognac / Bordeaux
Michel Amart Cognac
is more than ready for Vinexpo
in Hong Kong !Michel Amart owns a Cognac firm that bears his own name; he is also proprietor of Château Montaiguillon in Montagne Saint-Emilion and was a winegrower at Château Jean-Faure (a Saint-Emilion Great Growth) from 1976 to 2003.Mr Amart is currently making tremendous efforts to win over markets in Asia.His most recent trips abroad prove this: Peking, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Singapore …Untiringly, he travels to major cities of the world in search of new brokers.
It is a fact that producers’ sights are set on the continent of the ‘rising sun’; it promises a glorious future for French spirits which offer the advantage of ancestral expertise and terroirs of unparalleled quality. The 17 hectare-vineyard of Domaine de Lyzé, located in Saint Martin d’Ary, in the southern part of the Charente-Maritime region, is one of the oldest in the appellation area; its soil is comprised of red gravel and its sub-soil of white clay.
A wide range of wines and spirits
With a total of 1 500 hectolitres of wine produced annually, the property makes 3 000 bottles of Pineau des Charentes, 7 200 bottles of white ‘Vins de Pays Charentais’ and 30 000 bottles of Cognac.
Matured in excellent quality wood, Michel Amart Cognac has a golden yellow colour; it is an easy-drinking, pure, straightforward Cognac. Michel Amart personally deals with distillation. The oldest XO, ‘Napoléon’, dates from 1983, it has 15 years of age, compared with 5 to 10 years for the VSOP; ‘Trois Etoiles’ is aged for 3 or 4 years. The domain also produces Pineaux des Charentes to be served as aperitifs (‘Doré de Lyzé’ has 5 to 10 years of age, ‘Rubis de Lyzé’, 5 to 20 years of age). Considerable care has been given to the labelling of all these products: an elegant style and a presentation in Chinese for the aperitif products.
Following in the footsteps of leading brands on three continents: Europe, the United States and Asia
Michel Amart belongs to the category of producer who is keen to make his own contacts with prospective clients. “In the United States, our products are sold in New York, Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco …” Michel Amart is delighted to tell us. But the American market, just like the Asian market, is not easy to penetrate. The predominance of leading brands, an insufficiently established reputation and a lack of prescribers …
But Michel Amart admits he has been given backing by a certain number of sommeliers who have integrated his products in their restaurants. In France, they can be found at the ‘George V Hotel’ in Paris, at the ‘Georges Blanc’ restaurant in Vonnas, and at the ‘Orsi’ and ‘Léon’ restaurants in Lyon …
Every two years, Michel Amart alternates his trips between Asia, America and Europe, where he travels to Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Holland, Belgium and Russia.
He carefully observes the Asian market with perseverance and his greatest challenge will be to position his products in a market parallel to the one that sells the most illustrious brands in this sector. “Between now and 2010, the population of consumers in China is set to increase fivefold, from 50 million consumers at present to approximately 250 million in three years!” enthuses Michel Amart. Europe, the United States, Japan, China, Vietnam and Russia are the favoured destinations for his products. So he is more than ready for Vinexpo Hong Kong, where he will be actively seeking to establish contacts with new sales partners.
C.F.N.
Cognac Amart
17270 Saint-Martin d’Ary
Tel.: 00 (33) 05 46 04 23 29
