Sazerac loses Cognac contract court battle
US spirits firm Sazerac must honour its contracts with 45 Cognac grape growers following a court ruling in France.
The Angoulême commercial court ordered Sazerac de Segonzac, the French subsidiary of Sazerac Company, to execute the contracts as agreed, according to growers’ union L’Union Générale des Viticulteurs pour l’AOC Cognac (UGVC).
According to UGVC, the dispute centres on multi-year supply contracts, which Sazerac terminated in January 2026.
The Cognac industry has faced a downturn in recent years, owing in part to tariffs in the US and anti-dumping duties in China – the category’s two biggest markets.
Julien Massé, president of the UGVC, said: “They stood together when each of them could have found themselves alone against Sazerac. This victory is first and foremost theirs. It reassures families and restores the full value of a promise made in a contract. The UGVC was by their side every step of the way: that is exactly the role of our union.”
Sazerac is expected to appeal the decision; however, the firm did not respond to a request for comment.
Sazerac Company’s roots lie in Cognac, where the eponymous family established a vineyard and distillery in the 1630s. Sazerac de Forge et Fils Cognac arrived in New Orleans in the US in the 1800s, and the firm soon moved into whiskey, for which it is now best known.
Although the company produces 25 whiskey brands, only two Cognacs are a collaboration with rapper Quavo.
