AboutPaul Wagner Expertise I have spent most of my adult life eating and drinking throughout the world, and can usually remember some of it!
Experience
Past/Present clients Diageo Chateau & Estate Wines Company, The Court of Master Sommeliers, Constellation Wines, The Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux, Vinitaly, Napa County Agricultural Commissioner.
Expert: Paul Wagner Date: 6/30/2008 Subject: Cointreau - Anisette?
Question QUESTION: I have an unopened bottle of Anisette made by the Cointreau distillery in Pennington, NJ under the formula specified by Cointreau, Angers, France. My internet search has yielded no significant information. Any information you could provide would be greatly appreciated.
ANSWER: Hi Kurt
This is a fairly alcoholic liqueur based on anise, or licorice. It's a favorite aperitif in France, and is bottled in other countries as well. Usually served in a tall glass, with only an ounce of Anisette...then you add ice water, which not only dilutes the alcohol, but also turns the whole thing a sort of opaque white. Very cool.
Distilled spirits like this last forever--the alcohol levels are so high that they don't change much at all. But that also means that they don't improve with age. You bottle should taste pretty much the way it tasted when it was bottled--and it probably worth about what a current bottling sells for today.
Paul Wagner
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: My interest lies more in the fact that this was produced and bottled under the Cointreau name (famous for their orange flavored liqueur). I can not find any information that Cointreau has bottled in the past or is currently bottling Anisette today. This is the mystery.
Do you have any information on Cointreau ever bottling anisette?
Answer HI Kurt
Thanks for writing again--and sorry for not understanding your question better the first time.
No, I don't have any information on Cointreau making anisette, specifically, but I am a marketing expert, and just about every company, at one time or another, decides to expand its line to include a few related products. And then they expand some more, until it occurs to them that their image is being damaged...and then they go back to doing what they do best.
In the late 1980's Cointreau was bought by Martell--the Cognac house. They also have a history of buying brands, adapting established brand names on product and line extensions, etc. So it doesn't surprise me that this happened.
Even today, many Champage houses (some of which are owned by Martell!) have branch offices in other countries, where they grow grapes and make wines to compete in that market. That company has changed hands quite a few times in the last twenty years. Here is a summary:
1988: Seagram acquires Martell; the Augier Robin Briand subsidiary is created.
2002: Pernod Ricard acquires Martell as part of its acquisition of part of Seagram's drinks portfolio.
2006: Martell becomes the cornerstone of Pernod Ricard's new luxury products division, Martell Mumm Perrier-Jouët.
It sounds as if that's what Cointreau did with its plant in New Jersey.
