Monique Fillioux: “Women Are Everywhere in the Cognac Industry” 

In Cognac Women: Moving into the Light, to be released in English this October, Monique Fillioux sheds some light on the work that women have been doing behind the scenes of one of the most prestigious spirits in the world. The French entrepreneur wrote from experience: For almost 40 years, she managed Cognac Jean Fillioux, the house founded by – and named after – her husband’s great-grandfather in 1894.

by Daniel Cooney

You did not include your own story in the book. Could you tell us more about yourself and how you came to the industry?

Monique Fillioux: A lawyer, musician and equestrian, I left Paris for the Charente region in 1977, after marrying Pascal Fillioux, who was a fourth-generation cellar master for his family’s house. Soon after, I became responsible for Jean Fillioux Cognacs’ management, marketing, and communication. I retired in 2015 and handed over the reins to the fifth generation – our son Christophe and his wife Virginie Viarouge-Fillioux, who is a trained oenologist – but I remain a Cognac woman at heart.

What gave you the idea to write this book?

MF: In 2019, Michel Guillard, who edited a book on Grande Champagne, one of six Cognac crus in the Charente region, asked me to write about the changing role of women in our business. I put together a short article, but I felt the need to write something more complete on the subject. However, very little information was available from official sources like the Bureau National Interprofessionnel du Cognac, the local Chambre d’Agriculture, and the University of Poitiers’s spirit library at Segonzac. So, in November 2020, I decided to do it myself and interview the women around me. They were more and more numerous in the vineyards, on the tractors, in the offices, in magazines, and on the board of professional organizations. It was the right time to write a book about these women.

How did you pick the 28 women you highlighted?

MF: First, I wanted all the industry to be represented, from estate managers to company directors, winegrowers, distillers, cellar masters, wine and brandy brokers, and coopers. Then, to show a range of perspectives, I included stories from different generations. Julie Fouassier, a technical advisor at Courvoisier, is 29, while Francine Forgeron, who runs her family’s Cognac house, is 76. I wanted to show how each had claimed her own place in an industry long dominated by men. Things might have been simpler for Marine Babinot, a 30-year-old winegrower in Saint-Laurent-de-Cognac, than for Maryline Ardouin, 60, who launched her brokerage firm in the late 1980s. Being a woman in Cognac can certainly be difficult, but being a young woman brings additional challenges. Ultimately, I wanted to show that women have always played a major part in our business, whether they were recognized for it or not.

What was their reaction when you approached these women with the idea?

MF: They were unanimously enthusiastic! Because I was one of them, I knew what to ask, and they trusted me. They felt comfortable sharing their work and life experiences with me, sometimes for hours. Some of these women hold multiple university degrees. Almost all have traveled the world and often returned home to save their family’s estate. Each has inherited a lot of hard work and graciously accepted it. They are passionate, talented, hard-working leaders. Since its publication in French in 2022, the book has created a true community, and it allowed people in Charente to discover the face of the women who make their favorite drink! I’m now hoping it can inspire young women. They might even think: “I can do something like this, too. I can blaze my own path in the Cognac industry and succeed.”

Femmes du cognac, de l’ombre à la lumière de Monique Fillioux Sabourin, La Geste, 2022.

Cognac Women: Moving into the Light by Monique Fillioux, translated from French by Sarah Robert, La Geste, 2023.

Cognac Jean Fillioux is represented in the United States by Heavenly Spirits.

This content was originally published in France-Amerique magazine in October 2023.