A week after releasing the theme song for Hennessy Artistry 2011, Eldee, Jesse Jagz and Banky W embarked on a scheduled trip to Cognac, France on September 5, 2011
The artistes were treated to “The Hennessy Heritage Experience” alongside Chocolate City’s MI who has worked closely with Hennessy in the past.
“This is really our way of giving these artistes a unique one on one experience with Hennessy Cognac” Communications Manager Tokini Peterside told journalists early this week.
While in France, these artistes were treated to a night in “Chateau de Bagnolet”- a private chateau in Cognac belonging to the Hennessy Family. Banky W, eLDee, Jesse Jagz and MI joined the likes of Common, The Roots and Alexander Burke on the list of prestigious guests at the exclusive Hennessy chateau.
“We were welcomed at the Chateau de Bagnolet by the Hennessy Ambassador, Cyrille Gautier Auriol. It was a big one for me knowing that noteworthy guests like Joe Cocker, Ray Charles and others have also been hosted there before” Banky W says.
He continues “We went through the Vineyard, where we were made to understand the difference between the grape varieties chosen and used during Hennessy production, after which we returned to the Chateau de Bagnolet where we mixed our special Hennessy Concoctions with the assistance of a mixologist.
“The highest point of the trip for me was when we met Renaud de Gironde- (A member of the Filioux family who have served as Hennessy’s master blenders since 1765), he took us through a process of blending, and we each got to create a unique blend of our own in bottles bearing our names and labels. We brought these back with us to Lagos”” eLDee says.
In addition to visiting Hennessy’s vineyards, the artistes also visited the Founder’s Cellar – Hennessy has over 42 kilometers of Cellars in Cognac
“It was massive” MI who has worked closely with Hennessy since 2009 says “On each barrel in the Founder’s cellar was the year when the eaux-de-vie (a pure colorless brandy extracted from fermented grape juice) was first placed into the barrel, and we saw dozens of barrels dated as far back as 1836!”
Producer Jesse Jagz adds, “My favorite part of the trip was when we returned to Paris on September 7. We went to Galleries Lafayette, the Eiffel Tower and L’arc de triomphe, and then we finished the evening at the top of the stunning Centre Pompidou. We were blown away by the city’s beauty.”
The team returned to Nigeria on September 8, 2011.
