Cognac house Martell is celebrating its landmark 300th anniversary
with the release of Martell Premier Voyage, presented in an artwork designed by French artist Bernar Venet. The limited-edition product, which is hitting travel-retail
shelves from November 2014, has been developed in recognition of the brand’s
300th anniversary next year.
Premier Voyage was released to global travel retailers
during the Master of Wines & Spirits event in Singapore on November 8, organised by leading
duty-free operator DFS. From there, it will
be available at major travel retailers worldwide throughout 2015, in locations
including Hong Kong, Sydney, Los Angeles, Toronto, New York, Amsterdam and
Paris. Some 30 of the 300 pieces will be available in travel retail.
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| Martell Premier Voyage celebrates the Cognac house's 300th anniversary |
“Travel retail is a
channel with ever-increasing influence for Martell Cognac,” said Francois
Plantecoste, community director for Global Travel Retail – Martell. “It’s an
ideal showcase to convey Martell’s brand image and meaningful content.
Customers will be able to experience and learn about Martell’s art of
craftsmanship, art of tasting and art of gastronomy in an attractive and
memorable way, hence creating a high impact and strong appeal to our Cognacs.
As a result, we are extremely pleased to provide this stunning piece of art to
airport retailers in some of the world’s most influential sites as we celebrate
our 300th anniversary.”
Retracing Jean Martell's footsteps
In celebration of the house’s tricentenary, cellar master
Benoît Fil returned to Martell’s roots to create the new blend, which contains
18 eaux-de-vie from
Martell’s cellars. Using Jean Martell’s original correspondence, Fil pieced
together a map of Jean Martell’s key suppliers from 1735 to 1742, and began to
retrace his footsteps 300 years on. Visiting winegrowers, Fil sampled
eaux-de-vie and met with the winegrowing families whose ancestors had
originally supplied the brand’s founder. The blend was then aged in barrels
made from the oak of a 300-year-old tree.
Fil said:“The desire was to create a blend that reflected
the journey and history of Jean Martell. We had access in our archives to the
exact geographical locations that he went to. Therefore, we were able to visit
the descendants of these winegrowers who today create the best quality
eaux-de-vie. Martell Premier Voyage takes the best things from the past of
Cognac and Jean Martell’s vision, and makes them something that we can enjoy
today. This new blend truly captures three centuries of Martell turning Cognac
into art.”
Turning Cognac into art
French conceptual artist Bernar Venet lent his distinctive, minimalist style to create a striking artwork in which to
house the Cognac. Venet’s timeless design comprises metal arcs which are
divided into three clusters, evoking the 300-year anniversary, which cover a
simple and elegant teardrop-shaped Sèvres crystal decanter. The juxtaposition
between the flowing shape of the bottle and the powerful energy and aged
appearance emanating from the steel arcs seeks to demonstrate the union between
tradition and modern visionary spirit. The blend can only be drawn from the
sculpture with a pipette similar to that used by the cellar master to extract and taste
eaux-de-vie from the barrels.
Explaining his inspiration for the decanter, Venet said: “I
was inspired by the date 1715, as the year that Louis XIV died and this great Cognac
house was born. I have in the past created a sculpture around a statue of Louis
XIV, and I wanted a sense of continuity with my work. The arches in the work
represent this continuity, and a sense of time. The three arc clusters
represent the three centuries that we are celebrating. There are so many
parallels between Versailles, the birthplace of art de vivre, and Martell and
with what I do.”
Each bottle of Martell Premier Voyage will be individually
signed, numbered and produced to order. A registration list is now open. Visit www.premiervoyage.martell.com.
