type subsidiary industry alcoholic beverages founded 1835 founder felix courvoisier headquarters jarnac charente products cognacs parent suntory holdings website www.courvoisier.com a bottle of courvoisier vs very special cognac courvoisier french pronunciation ku vwazje is a brand of cognac owned by beam suntory a subsidiary of suntory holdings of osaka japan . the production is based in the town of jarnac in the charente region of france . contents 1 history 1.1 foundation 1.2 napoleon 1.3 move to jarnac 1.4 ch teau courvoisier 1.5 marketing 1.6 fashion 2 bottlings 3 accolades 4 references 5 external links history edit foundation edit originally established in paris in the french suburb of bercy in 1809 emmanuel courvoisier started a wine and spirit company with louis gallois then the mayor of bercy . 1 originally emmanuel and louis would act as traders for the best cognacs of the region . eventually the two decided that the only way they could guarantee the very finest cognac was relocate to the region and become producers themselves . the 200 year old crafting process has not changed since courvoisier s establishment in bercy . napoleon edit napoleon bonaparte visited bercy in 1811 as documented in a historic painting by etienne bouhot and later was credited with saying he wanted his artillery companies to have a ration of cognac during the napoleonic wars . 2 legend has it that napoleon i later took several barrels of cognac with him to st helena a treat much appreciated by the english officers on the ship who named it the cognac of napoleon . 2 in 1869 napoleon bonaparte s heir napoleon iii personally requested courvoisier and bestowed the honourable title of official supplier to the imperial court which is still displayed at the courvoisier museum in jarnac . 3 move to jarnac edit in 1828 felix courvoisier and jules gallois the sons of emmanuel and louis wanted to improve the quality of cognac moving the company to the heart of the cognac region in the town of jarnac . after felix s passing in 1866 his nephews the curlier brothers took over the management of the business . by 1909 the business was sold to the simon family from england but still maintained its production and headquarters in the jarnac region . 4 located ten minutes from the town of cognac the main courvoisier business operations still operate from the ch teau on the banks of the charente river which was established in the 1870s . courvoisier sources eaux de vie from the following crus to create its blends grande champagne petite champagne boderies and fin bois . the harvest season begins in october followed up by distillation from november to march . courvoisier cognac is aged in barrels handmade from 200 year old oak sourced from the tron ais forest in france . 5 ch teau courvoisier edit courvoisier headquarters are still stationed in jarnac about ten minutes from the cognac region . courvoisier is run from the original ch teau felix courvoisier and jules gallois moved to in 1828 . 6 today the courvoisier ch teau has a boutique and museum offering private tastings and exclusive tours . the museum features several items linked to napoleon i including a lock of his hair his hat and his coat . marketing edit continuing to honour the spirit of napoleon courvoisier launched the josephine bottle in 1951 named after napoleon s first wife . the shape of the bottle with a thin neck and wide base has become synonymous with courvoisier and speculation still exists whether the shape is meant to mimic josephine s love of corsets or an inverted replica of early brandy glasses . 6 courvoisier was the first cognac brand to appear on tv with an ad on uk television broadcast to nine million viewers . in 2009 courvoisier was the first alcohol brand to release a 3d advert titled cognac with another dimension on tv and in cinemas ahead of the viewing of the biggest grossing film of all time avatar . 7 a special ipod app was created to teach consumers how to use courvoisier as an ingredient in cocktails as part of the mixability promotion . 8 with a focus on mixology courvoisier created the architectural punchbowl for an immersive brand experience with cocktails served from a structure filled with 4 000 litres of a punch containing courvoisier . the event was a homage to admiral edward russell who in 1694 created a large punchbowl that had to be served by a boy rowing across it . 9 le nez de courvoisier one of the first examples of sensory marketing recognised the dominant aromas in each of the courvoisier cognacs and used them to deliver food pairing initiatives in partnership with leading chefs and music . fashion edit in 1988 famed art deco designer ert was commissioned to create limited edition courvoisier bottles containing grande champagne cognac dating back to the year of his birth 1892 . the seven unique designs represented various stages of the cognac distillation process interpreted by ert s unique designs . 10 courvoisier s next fashion partnership was in 2005 with english designer vivienne westwood . sold exclusively at harvey nichols the courvoisier xo dressed by vivienne westwood only released 150 limited edition bottles . 11 the oldest bottle of courvoisier with liquid dating back to 1789 was unveiled at harrod s for the alchimie l atelier event . discovered in dutch collector bay van der bunt s vault the bottle was on sale for 90 000 . 12 bottlings edit c by courvoisier 13 courvoisier vs courvoisier vsop fine cognac courvoisier vsop exclusif courvoisier napoleon fine champagne courvoisier xo courvoisier emperor courvoisier initiale extra courvoisier 12 courvoisier 21 l essence de courvoisier l esprit de courvoisier courvoisier succession js courvoisier cour imperiale grand champagne courvoisier gold us only courvoisier rose us only accolades edit courvoisier was granted the prestige de la france in 1984 for providing quality products in france and remains the only cognac house to have received the award . 14 liquor ratings aggregator proof66 lists the courvoisier 21 among the top 20 rated brandies cognacs in the world . 15 references edit our heritage . courvoisier.com . retrieved 28 july 2014 . a b an imperial history . courvoisier.com . archived from the original on 4 february 2007 . retrieved 28 april 2013 . dead link courvoisier cognac . beamsuntory.com . retrieved 28 july 2014 . courvoisier . cognac.com . retrieved 28 july 2014 . courvoisier . beamsuntory.com . retrieved 4 august 2014 . a b our heritage . courvoisier.com . retrieved 9 september 2014 . courvoisier to air first spirits 3d advert on uk terrestrial tv . talkingretail.com . retrieved 9 september 2014 . courvoisier to be first brand to air 3d spot on uk tv during channel 4 s 3d week . marketingmagazine.co.uk . retrieved 9 september 2014 . drown your winter blues in a giant punch bowl . wired.co.uk . retrieved 9 september 2014 . our heritage . courvoisier.com . retrieved 16 september 2014 . vivienne westwood designs on courvoisier xo cognac . jeffersonhunt.com . retrieved 16 september 2014 . vintage curves oldest courvoisier cognac on sale at harrods . luxury insider.com . retrieved 16 september 2014 . c by courvoisier new double barrel aged cognac . cognac fans . beamsuntory.com courvoisier cognac proof66.com top 20 list external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to courvoisier . official website courvoisier us website retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title courvoisier & oldid 737666809 categories cognacdistilleries in francecompanies established in 1835french brandspurveyors to the imperial and royal courtbeam suntoryhidden categories all articles with dead external linksarticles with dead external links from may 2014commons category with page title same as on wikidata navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured 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