‘Macau is really the market of the world’

Maurice-Richard Hennessy

For the past two and a half centuries, “Hennessy” has emerged as and remained the ultimate cognac, travelling from a tiny region in France to five continents. Hosting the cognac maker’s 250th anniversary event in Macau as part of a world tour, Mr Maurice-Richard Hennessy, an 8th generation descendant of the Hennessy family, shared with the Times his optimistic view of the industry’s outlook.

Macau Daily Times – Is the cognac industry still growing after two and half centuries?
Maurice-Richard Hennessy – Absolutely. In 1870 there were 235,000 hectares of vineyard in the Cognac region; today there are 75,000, so there’s some space. We are not about to plant another 100,000 hectares, but the production of grapes and production of cognacs can be improved even if we only plant 5,000 to 10,000 hectares. And there are markets still missing, as you have countries that either don’t drink cognac or drink very little, so we can expect them to open up a bit.

MDT – Where is Hennessy’s most prominent market and the one with most potential to grow?
MH – Everybody is prominent and important. However, one that has never disappointed is the US, which is huge.  A market with enormous potential  — which has ups and downs but a promising future – is mainland China.

MDT – What is Macau’s role in the rising consumption of cognac in China?
MH – Macau has been a very successful market for Hennessy for a long time. I come here two or three times a year; the market is very international, because it’s not only the Chinese who come here to gamble but a lot of people who come from other parts of Asia. It’s not like Guangzhou, it’s really the market of the world, as the world comes here to play, so we have to face the world here.

MDT – How do you see the future of cognac?
MH – It’s a product that keeps to its roots while at the same time adapting itself to new generations. (…) The future is: we have to plant more vineyards and we have to build more aging storage houses. We plan to sell ten million cases by 2030 or 2035, which means we need to start today.
In 1985 when Hennessy was 220 years old, we had sold 2 million cases – 24 million bottles – in a year; this year, Hennessy is 250 years old and has sold nearly 6 million cases, or 72 million bottles. You can see the growth. It is obvious one day there will be a limit, because the vineyard can grow a bit but the region cannot double or increase [in size]. But we have plenty of opportunities for the future.

MDT – Are there challenges facing the industry such as climate change?
MH – Probably. Climate doesn’t affect us today, but it may in many ways. If the climate really warms up, we may have to plant some new varieties of vines and that doesn’t come in one year; we also have to think how oaks are going to grow, because we need oaks to make the barrels and it takes a hundred years to grow an oak old in order to make a barrel. But our studies today are more interested in vineyard diseases that we can’t cure; finding ways to cure these diseases is paramount today.