Family Producer and Blender
Gilles Merlet
Family Producer and Blender, Distillerie Merlet
- Discipline
- Family Producer and Blender
Portrait of Gilles Merlet
i. Biography
Gilles Merlet is the family distiller behind Maison Merlet in Saint-Sauvant, in France’s Cognac region, where he took over the distillery in 1973 and later expanded the house beyond cognac into fruit liqueurs and Pineau des Charentes. Sources also describe him as a pioneer in the 1970s for planting blackcurrants and other fruits in the Cognac production area to develop cassis and related liqueurs. He continues to be associated with the family-run Merlet business, with his sons Pierre and Luc joining the company in 2005.
