The French spirits group was created in 1990 through a merger of the companies Rémy Martin (cognac) and Cointreau (liqueur). Rémy Martin was founded by the winegrower of the same name in 1724. In 1924, the company was taken over by André Renaud, who founded its current fame. Cointreau was founded in Angers (Maine-et-Loire) in 1849 by the brothers Adolphe and Edouard-Jean Cointreau, and in 1875 the famous liqueur of the same name was invented from the peels of bitter oranges. Maximilien Cointreau, who joined the company in the 1950s, married one of André Renaud's two daughters, which led to the family relationship between the later united companies. In 1965, André Rénaud died and left the house to his daughters. Their spouses, André Heriard-Dubreuil and Maximilien Cointreau, fought a bitter battle for supremacy for many years, which almost led to their downfall. Only the final merger with Cointreau in 1990 put an end to this dispute.
In 1989, the liqueur brand Galliano (sold again in 2006) and the rum brand Mount Gay were taken over, as well as the liqueur brand Bols (sold again in 2006) and the Greek brand Metaxa in 2000. In 2009, the company withdrew from the Maxxium distribution joint venture, which it had joined in 1999, and began to focus again on its basic brands Rémy Martin and Cointreau. The champagne houses Charles Heidsieck (1985) and Piper-Heidsieck (1988), which were still acquired by Rémy Martin, were sold to EPI in 2011 for 410 million euros (see under Heidsieck). In addition to the two core brands Rémy Martin and Cointreau, the Rémy Cointreau company also owns the brands Bruichladdich (Scotch whisky), Metaxa (brandy), Passoa (liqueur), Mount Gay (rum) and Saint Rémy (brandy). A total of around 1,000 people are employed worldwide. Together with Underberg, the sales company Diversa GmbH was founded in Germany.
Rémy Martin is produced at four locations. The base wines for the cognac come from 150 hectares of the company's own vineyards and from more than 2,000 contract winegrowers with a total of 8,000 hectares of vineyards in the Grande Champagne and Petite Champagne cognac regions. Half of all Cognac variants are made from Grande Champagne wines, which is why all bottles bear the designation "Fine Champagne". The barrels are made from the Limousin region in the company's own cooperage. The range includes the brands "Club", the "XO" with an ageing time of several decades, "Extra Perfection" and "Louis XIII". Some of the brands are bottled in bocksbeutel-like bottles. Over 20 million bottles are produced annually, which is 15% of the cognac market worldwide. Of this, 95% is exported to 165 countries. In China, there is the joint venture project Dynasty Winery.
