Martell
Tricentenaire Gala Dinner: A Celebration 300 Years in the Making
EMMANUEL DOKHELAR OF PERNOD RICARD MALAYSIA, ROZITA SHUIB THE PUBLISHER/CEO/EDITOR IN CHIEF OF NEWMAN MAGAZINE AND DATO KEE HUA CHEE
DATO KEE HUA CHEE AND CHARLES-ARMAND D BELENET, GLOBAL MARKETING DIRECTOR AND COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR OF MARTELL MUMM PERRIER-JOUET
KIN EEZAZ, DATO KEE HUA CHEE AND EMMANEUL DOKHELAR THE MARKETING DIRECTOR OF PERNOD RICARD MALAYSIA
TERENCE ONG THE MANAGING DIRECTOR OF PERNOD RICARD MALAYSIA, EMMANEUL DOKHELAR AND DATO KEE HUA CHEE
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Celebrating a Global Legacy:
Throughout 2015, the House of Martell will
be celebrating the art of gastronomy, the art of tasting and the art of quality
craftsmanship in a year-long,
international programme of activity to celebrate its 300th
anniversary.
The house of Martell was founded in 1715 at the
very height of French Art de Vivre, a
movement inherited from the reign of Louis XIV that infuses every detail of
life with know-how, creativity and substance.
For 300 years, the Martell house has upheld this culture of refinement and expertise, unwavering in its commitment to the highest standard of excellence: distilling the finest crus, skillfully aging eaux-de-vie and blending them with expert craftsmanship and passion.
For 300 years, the Martell house has upheld this culture of refinement and expertise, unwavering in its commitment to the highest standard of excellence: distilling the finest crus, skillfully aging eaux-de-vie and blending them with expert craftsmanship and passion.
Befitting a global prestige house, Martell has launched a series of Tricentenaire celebratory events and luxurious gala dinners to take guests on a journey back to the roots of the Martell legacy.
As part of these spectacular global celebrations, Malaysia marked the 300-year celebration, first with a birthday celebration at Elegantology Gallery and Restaurant, followed by the highlight event: a grand Tricentenaire gala dinner in Genting Highlands.
Martell Tricentenary in Malaysia
Tricentenaire Gala Dinner in Genting Highlands
As the highlight event of the Tricentenaire celebrations this
year, Martell organised a grand gala dinner, 5,000 ft above sea level
at Genting International Convention Centre on Friday, 6th March 2014.
The gala dinner drew from a tradition whereby Jean Martell
would invite his friends to the magnificent Chateau de Chanteloup, purchased by the Martell family to receive
prestigious personalities from around the world.
Inspired by this, the
Genting ballroom was transformed into the home of Martell, complete with a
French garden and a gate that reminisces the iconic entry into Chateau de
Chanteloup.
As was
only fitting, Martell’s 300 year celebrations paid homage to a key pillar of
French Art de Vivre: extraordinary gastronomy.
As such, the Tricentenaire dinner
featured a 5-course Chinoiserie menu with gastronomic delights such as Peppercorn Marinated Smoked Duck & Foie
Gras Terrine, a gourmet twist on
the traditional Yee Sang dish with Citrus-Infused King Prawn & Salmon
Tartare, and a beautiful finish with exquisitely hand-crafted Martell
cognac pralines.
In Martell’s spirit of congeniality whereby hosts would serve their
very best cognacs to their friends, each course was accompanied
by a cognac that was specifically selected to compliment the flavours of the
dish – from Martell Chanteloup
Perspective to the Martell Cordon
Bleu 1912, Tricentenary Limited Edition.
Jacques Menier, Martell’s Heritage Director,
guided guests through the five pairings and explained the complexities of each
different cognac, enabling a sensational taste experience.
Throughout the dinner, guests were also entertained with video presentations,
vocal performances, performances by Hand Percussions and elaborate dance
performances, bringing to mind the capacity of Martell to transform
each moment into extraordinary pleasures.
VIPs from
around the world flew in to join the celebrations. Amongst the dignitaries were
Martell Global CEO, Philippe Guettat, and Cellar Master Benoit Fil, both
journeying from France to grace the proceedings with their presence.
Also
present that evening was Antoine Martell, one of the few direct living
descendants of the brand’s founder, Jean Martell. Growing up amongst the wine harvest,
Antoine has a lineage that can be charted back eight generations.
Sharing his
ancestor’s appetite for foreign cultures, Antoine has traversed the world and watched
the Martell legacy grow, forming friendships over fine cognac.
The Rise
Above Foundation & Limited Edition Bottles
A highlight of the gala dinner was the official announcement of
the Rise Above Foundation, a
not-for-profit body that aims to elevate the standards of the Malaysian food
and beverage industry by providing talents in Malaysia with scholarships to
excel in their chosen fields.
Martell recently donated a range of rare cognac
products for a special Tricentenaire online auction to raise funds for the
foundation.
Launched on 9 January, the auction will run over the next few
months.
Collectors will be able to place bid on unique items ranging from from eye-catching
bottles to original paintings that have inspired Martell limited edition
packaging.
Featuring collaborations with international and local visionaries
such as JC Castelbajac, Beatrice Looi and Venie Tee, the Tricentenaire auction is
testament to Martell’s international legacy and long-standing connections to
the art world.
In recognition of their generosity, the auction’s two highest
bidders were presented with their exclusive bottles of Martell Premier Voyage at the gala dinner.
Martell Premier Voyage is a
unique new blend made to mark the House’s Tricentenaire and contains18
exceptional eaux‑de‑vie in every sip.
To create this special blend, Martell’s Cellar Master returned to the founder’s
original correspondence and sourced eaux-de-vie
from the same plots that Jean Martell himself used.
The
house has created additional limited editions specifically for the
Tricentenary; Martell XO Exclusive
Tricentenaire Edition, Martell Cordon Bleu “A Tribute to Martell’s 300
Anniversary”, Assemblage Exclusif de 3 Millésime.
Each limited edition sits
within an exquisite package, with a blend aged in barrels made from the oak of
a 300 year-old tree. These blends were inspired by historic methodology and
recipes contained within Martell’s 300-year-old archives – which, if placed
back-to-back, would be over 5km long.
Malaysia’s Tricentenaire gala dinner may have passed, but the
festivities are far from over. Martell and its fans will continue to translate
300 years of the Art of Martell into festive celebrations that raise a toast to
fine gastronomy, tasting and craftsmanship.
Turning everyday moments into
extraordinary pleasures, the house legacy lives on.
The Rise Above Foundation:
The Rise
Above Foundation is a not-for-profit society that aims to elevate the
standards of the food and beverage industry in Malaysia by offering promising
talents in Malaysia a platform to excel in their chosen fields.
|
Means
|
The Rise
Above Foundation perpetuates its purpose by selling its most prized
Martell products, donated by Pernod Ricard Malaysia to a community of
collectors.
|
Fields of Focus
|
The Rise
Above Foundation will provide promising candidates with scholarships at
prominent schools that are focused on (but not limited to) the pillars of
gastronomy, tasting and craft.
|
TRICENTENAIRE LIMITED EDITION BOTTLES:
Martell Premier Voyage
This exclusive cognac, crafted to celebrate
300-years of excellence, is the perfect homage to the visionary spirit of Jean
Martell. With only 300 in production, each Martell Premier Voyage is individually
signed and numbered, making it the ultimate collector’s item.
Using
his original correspondence, Martell Cellar Master Benoît Fil constructed a map of Jean Martell’s key
suppliers from 1735 to 1742 before venturing forth to visit these same
winegrowing families.
Fil identified 18 exceptional eaux-de-vie to create the distinctive blend that is Martell Premier
Voyage, aging it in barrels made from the oak of a 300 year-old tree.
The bottle is housed within a
masterpiece crafted by world-renowned
French artist Bernar Venet.
In honour of
Martell’s tricentenaire, three clusters of metal arches frame an elegant,
teardrop-shaped crystal decanter. The exceptional blend can only be drawn from
the heart of the carafe with a special pipette, as used by the Cellar Master
himself.
Martell
XO Exclusive Tricentenaire Edition
This striking interpretation of the classic Martell XO decanter is
a true expression of cognac-as-art.
The arched shape is laced with fine silver lines across the entire
surface of the carafe, representing the ‘lifelines’ of oak wood. The Martell
emblem, the profile of the swift in flight, gleams proudly at the top of the
bottle.
The tip of the cork is adorned with a cabochon carved from the very
same tree that was used to make the aging barrels and engraved with the
tricentenary emblem.
Sitting beside the decanter is a 10cl montre containing the
exclusive Martell Tricentenary, a miniature bottle distillers traditionally
present their samples in.
Martell
Cordon Bleu “A Tribute to Martell’s 300 Anniversary”
A very special re-edition of the classic cognac Martell Cordon
Bleu, originally created by Edouard
Martell in 1912, this bottle combines more than one hundred eaux-de-vie from the four most
prestigious vineyards in Cognac: Petite Champagne, Grande Champagne, Fins Bois
and Borderies.
The result is an explosion of deliciously fruited, spice notes
for the senses.
The delicate and fruity hallmark of the Borderies has become the
signature of the Martell character which can be summed up in three words: elegance, complexity and balance.
Assemblage
Exclusif de 3 Millésimes
In celebration of the brand’s Tricentenary, the House of Martell
has created a unique blend of three exceptional eaux-de-vie; Grande Champagne, Fins Bois and Borderies.
Each evokes
a different period in the House’s history according to its aromatic profile.
This limited edition bottle comes presented in a wooden box
decorated with a three-tone inlay symbolising the ‘lifelines’ of oak wood and
the harmony of the three eaux-de-vie.
The bottle is a faithful reproduction of the traditional montre flasks that
were once used to present eaux-de-vie
samples to the Cellar Master.
A TOAST TO THE MOST!
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