Making headlines in 2024 as the youngest female master among the major houses of Cognac at the age of 31, Agathe Boinot has had quite the unconventional journey to her appointment as D’USSÉ cellar master, breaking glass ceilings along her way.
Boinot’s technical skill, ambitious spirit and early passion for scents helped her quickly climb up the ranks in the brown spirits industry, a famously male-dominated field. Beginning her career as a chemist in perfumery, the Parisian native earned a degree in oenology before making her way through the wine and spirits industry in waste management, logistics, farming, marketing and packaging.
Eventually she found her way to blending and began to apprentice under Michel Casavecchia, D’USSÉ’s founding cellar master, where she perfected her craft at the historic Chateau de Cognac. There, she prepared for the role for seven years, mastering the art of aging and tasting while immersing in the sensory symphony and style of D’USSÉ.
“Becoming cellar master is a great responsibility,” says Boinot. “In this position, I will champion representation for women in Cognac, who have played an important but largely invisible role. I aim to bring visibility to our work, inviting more women and younger generations to Cognac’s possibilities in the process.”
Laying Down Roots
From a young age, Boinot was drawn to the spirits industry. Upon graduating from school at 17 years old, she immediately started working and studying as a chemist in waste management for a cognac company.
“After two years in that role, I began my apprenticeship working with a small wine grower,” Boinot says. “There, I gained hands-on experience harvesting and treating the vineyard, which inspired me to pursue a more specialized degree in oenology.”
Later, she moved to Scotland and worked at a whiskey distillery focusing on wood and cask management before returning to France as a supervisor managing liquid production for a vodka manufacturer. While Boinot’s career has had many interesting pivots, she’s ultimately grateful for the journey because it’s led her to being the youngest cellar master at D’USSÉ.
Climbing Up the Ladder at D’USSÉ
It’s not easy navigating the beverage alcohol industry as a woman, and many put forth extra effort just to be seen. For Boinot, she found that people doubted her more because she got started in this industry at such a young age and the untraditional career path that led her to her current role.
“To combat this sentiment, I took on various tasks at the beginning of my career to prove my capabilities, such as spending hours rolling casks and changing the air pipes on the harvest machine,” she says. “In the end, I’m grateful for those experiences as they helped me strengthen my skills and resilience over time ultimately leading me to where I am at today.”
By trusting herself and putting everything she had into her job, Boinot is now seen for her merits rather than her gender or age.
“Whenever I felt as though someone in this industry doubted my capability, I just took it as motivation to prove them wrong and uplift myself,” she says.
Empowering Women
The reason Boinot is in the current role she is in today is because she never stops pushing herself. In fact, she plans to continue to push the boundaries of innovation as she continues her journey at D’USSÉ.
“My vision for the future is rooted in innovation,” she explains. “We plan to continue to push the boundaries of the archetypal cognac through our VSOP and XO offerings. D’USSÉ was built on a foundation of questioning and rethinking tradition—not just in how it’s made, but in how, when and by whom it’s enjoyed. That spirit of modernity is in our DNA, and it’s something I learned firsthand from my mentor, Michel Cassavecchia. My goal is to continue breaking the mold, honoring cognac’s rich heritage while redefining its future.”
For other women in the beverage alcohol industry, Boinot advises to never listen to people when they say, “you can’t do something” or that a certain task is “impossible.”
“I’ve heard that so many times in my career. However, I never let their words write my story,” she says. “When I started my oenology degree, I remember someone told me that I’d ‘never achieve it’ and that ‘it’s too difficult,’ but I refused to let their doubt dictate my path. Being a woman doesn’t define or limit what you can achieve; You are capable of becoming whoever you want to be.”
