Getting out of military school at the age of 20, Thomas is sent by his father to Cognac to develop the family business. The young adventurer quickly fell in love, with Cognac of course, but also with Odette Villard, a young Charentais woman who was the daughter of winegrowers; he then decided to settle in the region. The experience that was supposed to last a few months ended up lasting a lifetime.
Thomas and his Norwegian friend Peter Anton Rustad then jointly bought the Maison de Cognac A. Edmond Dupuy and renamed it Bache-Gabrielsen. Soon, thanks to their Scandinavian connections, their Cognac export business was doing well with Norway (the brand is now the leader in this market) and Denmark, then in continuity with the United States.
Through a long family history, successive generations would adapt, modernize and perpetuate the foundations of this House. Today, Hervé Bache-Gabrielsen, the fourth generation to head the company, is well aware that the world of Cognac is changing, with a strongly developed international market, a younger clientele, different consumption patterns and ever-changing marketing strategies.
To cope with this market, Hervé can count on Jean-Philippe Bergier, the cellar master, blender and nose of Cognac.
Since 1989, he has been in charge of selecting the most promising eaux-de-vie (as a négociant-éleveur the Maison calls exclusively on bouilleurs de cru, winegrowers who distill their own eaux-de-vie), overseeing their maturation (choice of woods, cellar hygrometry), creating blends and maintaining the Maison style year after year.
