Why aren't cognac abbrevations in french?

Factual Questions
1

I thought the french were quite stubborn about their language. And there’s certainly no cognac being made in England or USA.

2

What sort of abbrevs. ?

3

VSOP, VS, etc.

4

Forgot that, but silenus is right. Also, I have a bottle that says Fine XO Champagne Cognac. This seems a bit weird.

5

I’d imagine he means grades like VS and VSOP.

6

They also have french designations…

*** (3 star)
Réserve
Napoléon / Hors d’Age

7

I saw that now, but still, using English labels at all (and they are far more famous, I’d imagine), does seem quite odd for anything French.
I got the Champagne Cognac bit by looking at the map, though.

8

It’s got something to do with marketing, but I don’t know what. Perhaps they feel that the French grades would give too snooty an appearance in America (remember that the big cognac producers are producing for a large audience, and therefore can’t rely on snob appeal for sales).

9

[QUOTE=ultrafilter]
It’s got something to do with marketing, but I don’t know what. Perhaps they feel that the French grades would give too snooty an appearance in America (remember that the big cognac producers are producing for a large audience, and therefore can’t rely on snob appeal for sales).
[/QUOTE]

possibly, but surely it’s not much of a stretch these days to print french-only labels for sale in france?

I guess it’s been this way for ages though, would be weird to change it.

10

[QUOTE=ultrafilter]
It’s got something to do with marketing, but I don’t know what. Perhaps they feel that the French grades would give too snooty an appearance in America (remember that the big cognac producers are producing for a large audience, and therefore can’t rely on snob appeal for sales).
[/QUOTE]

Marketing no doubt has something to do with it, but those labelings are mandated by French law, aren’t they?

11

Cognac for the masses? I thought cognac producers, or even all spirit producers tried to be every bit as exclusive as they could. I don’t think I’d be alone in connecting spirits markeded towards the masses with alcoholism. And I have an impression of most spirits (except vodka and tequilla, I guess), as rather exclusive compared with beer, so the producers seem to favour a snobby attitude.

12

I wasn’t aware that they didn’t use French grades in France. Don’t they?

13

Cognac was originally marketed by English merchants, and so the abbreviations were determined by them. I just spoke to a colleague who lives in Versailles, and he confirmed that they use the same ranks, although he doubts most Frenchmen realize that they are based on English words.

http://www.bnic.fr/cognac/_fr/2_cognac/index.aspx?page=histoire