Tessendier & Fils wine launched at ProWein

A new wine range released by Tessendier & Fils – a company best known for its Cognac – was launched at ProWein last month to a good reception by the trade.

The range of red, white and rosé wines, named 8 Place du Marché or 8PM for short, is the latest extension into wine by Distillerie Tessendier, and was shown to the international drinks trade at the ProWein event in Düsseldorf in March.

Designed as a wine not for stern drinking but for “good times with friends”, key to its concept is the name – 8 Place du Marché being a “warm and convivial” venue in the town of Cognac’s market square, where the wines were first tasted.

A group of “friends and wine-lovers” were behind the creation of the brand according to Tessendier, each of them something of a specialist in their respective area – oenologist, cellar master, star-rated chef, cooper, sommelier, and winegrower.

The blends that make up the range were put together over a dinner, organised around a selection of grape varieties. During the dinner each of the guests were given “free rein to their imagination and tastes, and above all to their desire to make the most of the finest things in life” according to the brand. The new range is currently seeking distributors.

Tessendier & Fils was established in Cognac by Gaston Tessendier in 1880 and is now headed by Jérôme and Lilian Tessendier. The company owns a 30 hectare vineyard in the Borderies appellation and a distillery on the banks of the Charente River in Jarnac.