Word: cognacs
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Irate Soviet citizens took to calling him the "Mineral Secretary" or the "Genjuice," but now they may want to tag Communist Party General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev with a more affectionate nickname -- say, "Comrade Cognac." Last week the Soviet Council of Ministers announced that grocery stores will once again be allowed to sell beer, wine and cognac -- but not vodka. The decree watered down Gorbachev's antialcohol policies of 1985, which produced long lines at state shops and a flood of black-market booze. Despite the softened stance on liquor sales, the Soviet leadership still hopes to cut alcohol consumption with...
...corporate terms, it is the equivalent of a high-society marriage that has unexpectedly turned up in the gossip columns. Moet-Hennessy, the esteemed producer of champagne, Cognac and perfume, agreed in June 1987 to merge with Louis Vuitton, the equally upscale maker of luggage and handbags bearing the distinctive LV trademark. After the deal was signed, the top executives of the two French firms raised champagne glasses to toast their new creation, LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, one of the world's largest luxury-goods conglomerates (projected 1988 revenues: $2.6 billion...
...tension between two of France's most successful -- and strong-willed -- business leaders was probably inevitable. Chevalier is a dapper former steel executive who arranged the original merger of the Moet champagne concern with the Hennessy Cognac empire in 1971. Under the reorganization plan, he will continue to represent the interests of the Moet, Hennessy and related families, which together control 20% of the company. Racamier, another former steel executive, will speak for the Vuitton interests, which control 30% of the merged firm. Married to a Vuitton heiress, Racamier led the concern for the previous decade and propelled sales from...
...June, Racamier began to grumble publicly about competing corporate cultures within Moet Vuitton. He expressed fears aloud that the marketing of Cognac and champagne, some of which is sold through "mass distribution in supermarkets," would "contaminate" Vuitton's upper-crust image. To balance Chevalier's move toward Guinness, Racamier then made overtures to his own outside investor: Bernard Arnault, 39, whose group, Financiere Agache, controls the Christian Lacroix and Dior fashion houses. Following protracted negotiations, Agache and Guinness took a joint 24% stake in Moet Vuitton, with Agache holding the lion's share of the investment. Arnault, who is expected...
...swing music for dancing. Service is a bit rough around the edges, but the inventive Creole- Cajun dishes are generally successful. Among the best: sauteed sweetbreads with poached quail eggs, crayfish ravioli with scallops and tarragon sauce, and a basil-scented red snapper and crab meat with lemon-Cognac sauce that is this city's only good papillote creation...