Panos Sarantopoulos is not a man you are likely to miss. At six feet, six inches, and big with it, he seems to fill the room. We meet in an elegant lounge of a sleek chateau in the Anjou province within the Maine-et-Loire department of France just outside Angers, the home of Cointreau.

Last summer Rémy Cointreau announced the promotion of Sarantopoulos, former LVMH boss, as chief executive of its liqueurs and spirits division. As is well documented, the French drinks giant, publicly quoted but still controlled by the Heriard-Dubreuil family, has had a difficult time due primarily to the clampdown by the Chinese government on extravagant entertaining and spending. As a result, sales of high-end expressions of cognac and scotch in particular plummeted. According to industry estimates, 80% of RC’s operating profit comes from cognac sales, 40% of which were generated in China. As a result of the downturn, the then new chief executive, Frédéric Pflanz, resigned after fewer than 100 days in the post. Then to add to the uncertainty, the chief executive of the Rémy Martin division, Patrick Piana, resigned less than a month later.

On top of all of that there have been rumours swirling that Rémy Cointreau could be a takeover target, with Brown-Forman cited as the likely protagonist.

But Sarantopoulos is on a mission. For the purposes of this visit and interview, he is chief executive of Cointreau, the famous triple sec orange liqueur. That is the hat he wishes to wear. He does not want to talk about either himself or what is going on with the parent company. “Cointreau is the hero,” he says several times.

Nevertheless, the 47-year-old Greek national, married with two teenage children, is interesting. At 18 he went to the US to study management science. He then came to France to do a course that involved working in various places, one of which was Hennessy in Cognac.

At the end of the programme there was a farewell dinner. He received a fax from Hennessy offering him an internship. “I did not speak French – I could just about order a baguette,” he quipped. The offer was too attractive to turn down. He took it, French or no French. Sarantopoulos worked in logistics, sold Hennessy in the US and moved around the organisation, gaining experience.

He then moved on to Veuve Clicquot, one of the jewels in the LVMH Moët Hennessy stable of luxury brands, as senior vice-president for sales. Then, after six years, he was promoted to president and chief executive for the House of Krug.

Everything appeared to be going swimmingly at LVMH, but then in 2011 Sarantopoulos joined rival Rémy Cointreau to become chief executive for Metaxa. At the time of his latest appointment Rémy said Sarantopoulos, with his team, had brought about the turnaround of the Greek brandy to international growth, thanks to “bold premiumisation and a series of award-winning innovations”.

Sarantopoulos’s enlarged responsibilities within Rémy Cointreau include responsibility for the House of Cointreau, for the number one French brandy St Rémy, for liqueurs Passoa, Izarra and Ponche Kuba, and for whisky Guneagal, as well as for the distribution activity of Rémy Cointreau Gastronomie.

Sarantopoulos said at the time: “With the support of talented teams and our group’s agile distribution network, we will inject fresh energy into the division’s houses, brands and activities so that they continue to gather the worldwide recognition they deserve.”

But here in Angers, Sarantopoulos has his Cointreau hat firmly on.

“Cointreau is a historic, traditional liquid. It is rooted in craftsmanship. It is the heart of a cocktail and should be behind every bar. It is in all the classics – a fantastic place to be. One constant is Cointreau,” he opines.

And he is correct. Alfred Cointreau, sixth generation and last remaining family member in the business, is the classic liqueur’s global ambassador.

He is tasked with showing visitors around and indoctrinating them in the history and authenticity of the original triple sec orange liqueur. Guests are shown venerable old cocktail recipe books for the likes of the Sidecar, Margarita, White Lady and Cosmopolitan, which specifically state Cointreau in the recipe, while the London dry gin or other base spirit can be any brand.

In the impressive Cointreau book that one is given, there is a quote from Charles Baker from his 1946 book The Gentleman’s Companion: “One cannot do without Cointreau.” Point made.

Sarantopoulos rams home the point and reveals some of his strategy behind promoting the brand: “People have it at the heart of a cocktail. We want to have Cointreau centre stage and make it the hero.” There’s that word again.

Talking about the bartending fraternity, for whom Cointreau is a must-stock item, he states: “Cointreau is on the lips of our friends. We have close ties with bartenders. We organise invitation-only visits to Angers and have bar professionals from key cities such as New York, San Francisco, Singapore, Tokyo, Sydney and Hong Kong.”

Returning to the man, Sarantopoulos has been indoctrinated in the essentially French concept of a house as opposed to a brand within a company’s portfolio. It is obviously something he feels strongly about. He sees Metaxa, the LVMH champagne marques he worked with and, of course, Cointreau as far more than just brands.

“A house is about the people. It is where the owner lives. With a house, you get up and go to bed with that house. You have a dedicated team, back office and front of house. It is like a family, there is the lineage and the DNA is there. You are connecting to the roots,” he explains.

“With a brand you have the tools of the trade such as marketing and advertising. With a house, you have to go further back, to the craftsmanship. A proper team to bring forward the soul of the house. Metaxa has survived for 125 years. There must be something there. It is not just smart marketing. It’s the liquid, what is in the glass, connecting with the roots. There is a world of difference between a brand and a house,” he surmises.

So Cointreau fulfils all of Sarantopoulos’s criteria for his immaculate conception of a house, rather than just a brand.

As he says: “We want to have Cointreau centre stage and make it the hero.”