Before 1800, the LEMERCIERS were an important farming family, living in GRAND-FAHYS, a hamlet in the district of FOUGEROLLES.

In addition to their farm land, they also owned several orchards from which they produced KIRSCH and PLUM BRANDY.

However, little by little, their production of brandies greatly exceeded their personal requirements and they became professional distillers.

Thus, a distilling licence can be found among the family archives, awarded to DESLE NICOLAS LEMERCIER owner and distiller based in GRAND-FAHYS - FOUGEROLLES - in the district of ST-LOUP, in accordance with article LXXVI of the law of 5th Ventôse Year 12.

But it was difficult to sell KIRSCH in FOUGEROLLES and in the surrounding area as all rural families distilled their own.

The idea thus came to DESLE NICOLAS LEMERCIER to "barter".

So, he went to BURGUNDY with barrels and demijohns on a cart, containing KIRSCH which he then exchanged for WINE which he brought back to FOUGEROLLES to sell. Gradually his activity expanded and he became a wine merchant as well as a distiller.

This was the origin of Etablissements LEMERCIER FRERES' wine merchant activity which continued until roughly 1950.

DESLE NICOLAS also began distilling absinthe, an activity which was to develop rapidly until it became prohibited in 1915.

In 1881, the premises at GRAND-FAHYS being too cramped, DESLE NICOLAS' descendants, Constant and Isidore LEMERCIER decided to leave GRAND-FAHYS in order to buy land in the centre of FOUGEROLLES, opposite the future railway station which was built on the new railway line from Aillevillers to Faymont (88) between 1881 and 1883.

They quickly grasped that for them, the railways offered the best means of expanding their activity. At this time, the railways were in fact the only means of delivering goods at long distances.

They built the present premises on "rue de la gare" (railway street) in 1881, by digging into the hill. The earth removed was later used to bank up the present station.

Constant and Isidore LEMERCIER set up a whole group of buildings including :

*a distillation workshop for KIRSCH and BRANDIES

*a distillation workshop for absinthe

*a room for storage and ageing

*an order preparation workshop

*a wholesale wine merchant storeroom

*offices

*two houses for themselves within the factory premises as was customary at this period

*accommodation for the personnel

In 1890, they bought a large house situated in the main street in FOUGEROLLES and called "Maison NICOLAS" (the Nicolas house) after the former mayor of FOUGEROLLES who had lived there for many years.

This house had a lot of land and it was here that they built a workshop for alcohol rectification.

They bought in beetroot which they then rectified in order to produce alcohol at approximately 90°, the basic raw material required for producing absinthe.

However the Great War brought with it a ban on the production of absinthe in 1915, which struck a harsh blow to the Etablissements LEMERCIER FRERES.

But in any case this activity had proved to be loss making due to transport costs. As FOUGEROLLES is not situated in a beetroot growing area, all the necessary products, namely beetroot and coal had to be transported in from elsewhere.

The alcohol rectification activity was stopped around 1907 by Georges LABBE, Isidore LEMERCIER's son in law, who was director at the time.

As sales of KIRSCH, brandies, absinthe and wines continued to develop, Constant and Isidore decided to manufacture their own barrels.

Rapidly, production of barrels exceeded their own requirements and they started to sell casks to their colleagues in the area and to several surrounding counties.

Around 1920, in order to put the former alcohol rectification buildings to good use, Georges LABBE set up a basket weaving shop. This activity gave work to several hundreds of persons working from home employed in basket-making and several dozen labourers employed in the workshop to pack the glass containers.

The basket making shop gradually ceased to operate between 1970 and 1974; sales of demijohns had dropped considerably as, on the one hand, brandies were being sold increasingly in bottles and on the other hand, plastic wrappings had started to compete with demijohns.



A replacement activity was begun in 1925 by Georges LABBE. He set up a vinegar making workshop which became quite a big business and which still exists today.

Here is a list of Etablissements LEMERCIER FRERES' current activities :

*fruit brandy distillery (KIRSCH - MIRABELLE PLUM - ALSATIAN PLUM - PLUM - RASPBERRY - WILLIAM'S PEAR)

*manufacture of liqueurs

*manufacture of aperitifs (PASTIS -ANISEED LIQUEUR "LA BLEUE" - GENTIANE and a peach flavoured aperitif (DOUX PECHER))

*manufacture of spirit and wine vinegars

The previous Director, Jacques AUREGGIO and his sister Colette AUREGGIO - the Administrative Manager, are Isidore LEMERCIER's great grandchildren and are thus direct descendants of the founder DESLE NICOLAS LEMERCIER.

The future is ensured as Jacques AUREGGIO's son, Alain AUREGGIO, having finished his education in business studies, decided to take up the family business in 1991.

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