The Pride and Passion of Rémy Martin. Baptiste Loiseau, Cellar Master, Interviewed.
9 minutes read
It’s not often that I get a chance to do interviews like this, but this one is special – because Baptiste enshrines the very DNA of Rémy Martin. Again, the core values are the same as you’ve read in this week’s earlier interviews with Fida Bou Chabke and Amaury Vinclet – quality without compromise – a family business that enjoys the duality of being grounded yet ambitious, always with an acknowledgement of its legacy but with an eye to the future. People, Terroir, Provenance and Time encapsulate all that is Rémy.
As you will discover, Baptiste is very much his own man – he is the youngest Cellar Master in the company’s history. But he is also a man of our times and, as you will discover, Rémy Martin is in very good hands.
Peter Marshall (PM): Baptiste, 300 years is a tremendous milestone. What does it mean personally to you to be at the helm of such a prestigious cognac house at this time?
Baptiste Loiseau (BP): In fact, it’s an important year for the House. And for me too, as it has also been ten years since I became Cellar Master. So it’s kind of a double celebration.
PM: You’re actually the youngest Cellar Master the house has ever had.
BL: Exactly. Ten years ago, in 2014. I worked beside Pierrette Trichet, when she created the 290 years anniversary blend.
I already had in my mind at that time that, within the next decade, I would have to create what would be another milestone in terms of blend for the 300th Anniversary Coupe.
Of course, being the one that has the opportunity to create something unique for the House, drawing from the “Réserve Perpétuelle” is an immense privilege. For me, it’s something really meaningful because it goes beyond the creation of the blends of our standard products range. Each Anniversary Coupe is a part of history that links to the previous cellar masters. The bond we have all together is really strong in terms of creation. It’s also because we share the same passion for the House and for all the people that are making the eaux-de-vie with such dedication.
PM: It’s an enduring legacy, isn’t it?
BL: Yes, it’s not the final point for this blend, but the beginning of the next anniversary blend that will be done by the next cellar master. It is my footprint, my personal interpretation, that will be the basis of something new for the next Coupe.
PM: You know, I’ve been here for 24 hours, along with a few other media colleagues, and the one thing that comes across through everything, through every element of the process, is the overriding quality that comes out of this House and the passion for the product. So, I’d really like you to talk us through your creative process when blending. I mean, do you start with a brief from marketing, an end flavor profile in mind, or something completely different?
BL: It’s really a balance of the two. If you only focus on the marketing part, it won’t necessarily correspond to the eaux-de-vie characteristics / profiles at my disposal in our cellars.
So first, what I like from Amaury’s team, is to get them enthused by what is coming from the terroir, from the cellars, from the tasting room, etc. It’s a combination of this together with the ideas emerging from their sharp understanding and knowledge of the different markets’ needs, of our client’s expectations…
Of course, we have to stay true, authentic to the DNA of the House and to what has been selected by the previous cellar masters. I cannot create a new blend just in a couple of months because the eaux-de-vie have to age at least four years to become a VSOP. So, time wise, the creation can be only from both parts. It is the synergy of the ideas from the marketing teams and what I have in my mind in order to highlight what I’m totally comfortable with. I will be the one explaining what is inside, i.e the organoleptic profile, the aromas of the blend.
Tercet is a great example of what we have done together. Some eaux-de-vie had been selected years ago, in 2009, and the launch was in 2019. In between we took the time with the teams to explore and develop an authentic, trustworthy storytelling. Our common purpose (Amaury and me) is to be sure that what we tell to our clients is totally in line and consistent with what we have – in the bottle or in the decanter – and vice versa.
PM: You talked about this when we had lunch, you clearly recognize the importance of legacy. But you are still very much your own man. How would you say your approach differs from those that have come before you? Have technological advances, for example, helped you in any way? Or does it just simply boil down to personal taste and aroma perceptions?
BL: We all know that the position of Cellar Master of the House requires us to maintain the style, the DNA of the House and to be consistent in recreating every year what has been done by the previous cellar masters in terms of blends. These are the pillars that I have to respect and that I will transmit to the next Cellar Master.
But there is also a place for creativity and innovation because, as you were mentioning, we are all unique. Every cellar master has his or her own sensitivity and focus on something a little bit different. For André Giraud it was much more the quality of the wood because he started as a cooper. For Georges Clot, he had an analytical approach because he was first the lab manager. Pierrette really had a passion for tasting, of the senses. My sensitivity is much more on the agronomy, on the practices that will make a difference.
My grandparents were all growing vegetables and flowers here in the city of Cognac. I’m not actually from a family involved in cognac making, but it is my link to the earth, I think, that makes me highlight the superiority of the land and the link between the raw material and the final blend in the cognac making. What I want to push much more for the House in the coming years, it’s really about understanding the superiority of the land, of the terroir.
PM: Well, indeed, that takes us logically to the next question. Because you do spend a lot of time and energy talking about terroir. Now, that itself is inextricably linked to sustainability. Just how do you adapt your traditional cognac making processes to meet modern sustainability challenges?
BL: It all starts in the vineyards, with what we are doing and experimenting on the Rémy Martin estate. We take a lot of risks on our own estate because, afterwards, we will have to share our learnings and advice to all the growers for these practices to change. In terms of sustainability, we are strongly focusing on agro-ecological practices – questioning much more now the life in the soil, cover crops, about using less pesticides and fertilizers, going far further on organic fertilisers etc.
PM: And, in practical terms, I assume, also reducing the weight of the glass, looking at the chain of distribution as well as the packaging.
BL: Totally. Plus, of course, the energy we are using for the distillation, even to the type of tractor engines we use in the vineyards. And for the distillation we are mostly using gas, looking for a path that is different for energy. The purpose: to explore ESG needs, while maintaining the quality.
PM: OK. Moving on, how is climate change impacting both the vineyards and the maturation warehouses? This region in France has suffered some very bad rains this year. That’s bound to have had some effect.
BL: The impact is to be seen in the fields, in the vineyards. The call to action for me
was in 2003, when we faced an extremely hot summer with droughts. We saw that the ripeness of the grapes was totally different and that we were lacking acidity. As you know, acidity is crucial for distillation. We are not using sulphur for the conservation of the wine, so the best way to naturally conserve the wine is the acidity coming from the grapes. But if you have hot temperatures, you are losing it. We are now facing these climate changes and have to adapt our practices. One of those is to harvest much sooner.
PM: As I understand it, this year you actually harvested a number of weeks earlier than the other players around you.
BL: Exactly.
PM: It gave you an edge.
BL: You have to observe to make the right decision. Picking the right moment is critical to gather the right quality of the grapes.
That’s why we are also already conducting some trials with a new cultivation process that is now allowed by the region. They are experiments that we are conducting with other cognac Houses and the BNIC (Bureau National Interprofessionel du Cognac). It’s a question for the Cognac appellation. We are really considering it as a team and we are ready for the moment, to be satisfied by the quality of all these trials in terms of adapting to climate change.
PM: Well, talking about team efforts, this business is all about relationships with retail partners, with wine growers and consumers. But just focusing on winegrowers for a moment, how has your relationship in the Alliance Fine Champagne evolved over time? Tercet was the direct of that alliance, wasn’t it?
BL: The Alliance creation actually goes back to 1966, and we have seen the evolution, technically, with all the partners from the Alliance Fine Champagne. From the very beginning it was much more, let’s say, focusing on the contract and the way they will have to partner
in terms of volume and quality with the House. When I joined Rémy Martin, we went a little bit further on the trials to improve the quality of the grapes, wine and eaux-de-vie and, in the last ten years, the focus has been much more on agro-ecology and environmental certification.
PM: But they’re all operating at different speeds, aren’t they. It could be a timeline of 2030 to get them to fully meet your criteria.
BL: Yes, that’s why the number of people in my team dedicated to giving technical advice has increased a lot in recent years. Their role is to go in the countryside to help them on their journey. We have to adapt because everyone is different – the size of the estate, the way they want to go – fast or not fast – to make change. Of course, the big question when you change something is: ‘how will it affect the quality of what I am producing?’ It takes time, there are a lot of trials on the estate, but if we are confident that the trials work on our estate, then they can be confident, too. They can change their practices – at least one agro-ecological practice – before 2030.
PM: Just the one change?
BL: At least one, but that can be totally revolutionary in terms of 100% cover crop in their fields.
PM: So the ambition is obviously to improve the overall quality of the eau-de-vie they provide you.
BL: Yes. But not only quality, also the way it’s produced. It’s: ‘how can I improve the way I’m producing while improving the quality of my production?’ It’s what you were saying in the introduction. No compromise on quality for the House of Rémy Martin. And when I asked the previous cellar masters what would be their best advice for me as a Cellar Master, all three of them told me the same thing: you have to be – and stay – demanding and no compromise on quality.
PM: So if you could define what you do in a single sentence, what would that sentence be?
BL: Oh la la. Maybe my vision is highlighting the superiority of our terroir and the skills of all our growers – to maintain the consistent quality of our exceptional cognac.
PM: And I imagine to be the flagship of cognac as market leader and market maker.
BL: Right.
PM: Okay, one final question, Baptiste, and moving on to the celebratory product commemorating Rémy Martin’s 300th anniversary year. What role do you see this particular product, which is a limited edition of 6724 bottles, playing?
BL: I would say there are two aspects. First, the bottle embodies the vision of the transmission – we say it’s kind of a transmission in liquid form. It’s time in liquid form. So, with this Perpetual Reserve, for me it’s the best way to have our clients understand that it takes time. And it’s because we are dedicated to this superiority of the quality that we can create this kind of eau-de-vie at the end. That’s the first thing for me.
And, yes, it’s a little bit looking at the past – it’s the transmission and the legacy.
PM: But also looking to the future.
BL: Yes, this would be the second aspect, because it’s also a creation in which I have put my vision for the future to create what would be the next anniversary blend. So, what is my vision in terms of tension, freshness, all the agro-ecological projects that for the moment are not part of this specific blend, but will be part of the next blend. So we are already projecting to what will be the future of the House.
These aspects embrace everything that the House represents and benchmark what you can expect from us in the future – that is the thing.
PM: Exciting times ahead, Baptiste, thank you for your time.
