Martial

“You are an artist whose art is only revealed if you open the bottle!” said a photographer during a discussion about the “Josiane” project, our French agave brandy. Buddy Willie, English chocolatier at Willie’s Cacao and intern at AdB, agrees: “Martial is the most passionate distiller I’ve ever seen. When he talks about distillation it’s like he’s playing a musical instrument.”
For a long time now, the transformation of a raw material into a transparent alcoholic liquid has fascinated him: picking the fruit, watching over the living organisms during fermentation, understanding the micro-organisms and their habits, allowing himself to be surprised, and then taking the time for distillation, simply but with all 5 senses, by hand, with the nose, with the strength of his arms (and his forklift). He has been passionate about distillation since 2002, and guided by Matthieu Frécon’s book “L’alambic” (The still) he tried his first experiments: perched at the time in squatted villages in the Cevennes. For its very first brandy it took a team of friends to collect the fruit – the tree strawberry (arbutus).

At the beginning of 2010 Martial needs to change his life. He thought about distillation and decided to become a professional. In search of a still, he met Matthieu Frécon, the author of the famous book, at the time a mobile distiller in Faugères. He too wants to change his life. If he sells his stills, it is to leave. The meeting of the two is synergistic. Matthieu sees in front of him a successor worthy of his work and proposes to Martial to take over everything, including the performance for the Faugerois. With a friend – Quentin Lecleac’h, now a distiller in Uzes – and the help of UDM and its regional director Philippe Cayrol, and with the support of the wine estates of Faugères, AdB was founded.

Today, there is hardly a fruit or vegetable that would have resisted Martial’s attempts, whether fermenting cane juice from Vietnam or wild agaves foraged in Marseille, or making daring Gin recipes or barrel aged brandy. When people with ideas and projects contact him they often find an open ear, and the crazier or more difficult the idea, the more tempted he is. Martial loves anything that allows him to play with his stills to produce art in bottles.

Matthieu

September 2016 France Quintessence show, tasting after tasting with potential customers without interest and there: boom! Matthieu Collin comes from the restaurant where he was chef and tastes our spirits with precision and curiosity. Two years later, at big Raymond’s Cave St Martin, a gastronomic wine bar famous in the small world of natural wines: re-boom! Matthieu delights us with his dishes and his food and wine pairings. A friendship was born, made of tasting water, wine, alcohol, plants and good food, but above all of beautiful discussions and laughter. We stayed in regular contact even when he returned to Paris to practice his talents as a chef. May 2019 challenge: cook a gourmet vegan meal at Theresa’s birthday party! Boom again! Matthieu has amazed us. Result: a break in his career and in that of Martial. Linking cooking and distillation is a new world that reveals itself to us… At the second confinement Matthieu arrives at the distillery to leave his career as chef and begin that of a distiller.

Obviously from that moment on, everything changed at the distillery. His seriousness at work, his ideas, experience, know-how, his good mood and curiosity allowed us to advance in our distilling adventure. Martial finds an accomplice, a successor, an associate and someone to pass on his knowledge to while learning from him. In short, instead of handing the business over to him too quickly, they’re working together for a while: the succession is more than assured. The trio of distillers, pickers, roommates… is born, and it’s a perfect match.
Quote from Martial: “What stands out for me the most is that after years of distilling he’s the most passionate person I’ve ever met, and I’m lucky enough to work with him!”