Nadine Gestreau, sales administration manager at Doreau Tonneliers, interviewed by Stéphane Ebel

“La chica” of Cognac
On December 31, 2024, Nadine Gestreau, Head of Sales Administration at Doreau Tonneliers, will be stepping down to enjoy a peaceful retirement in her native Charente. It will have been 18 years since she joined Tonnellerie Vernou (part of Doreau Tonneliers since 2010) in 1998.

Nadine is one of those people you wish you’d met sooner; she’s the colleague everyone wants to have in their team, the one you can count on. Nadine is joy in life, kindness incarnate. Her whole life has been marked by this state of mind, by values that place the emphasis on people, work, family and her family. At the age of 65, it’s time to retire: “I’ve prepared for it, it had to happen one day. I’ve got plenty to keep me busy, and that’s not what worries me. I’m already enjoying my family to the full.

Born in Cognac, Nadine grew up in the Charente town. She attended kindergarten through to high school in Cognac, where she met Dominique, who was to become her husband, and where she gave birth to her two sons Vincent and Mathieu. She began her professional career alongside her husband, who had a cabinetmaking and marquetry business: “I worked in my husband’s business for ten years, from 1978 to 1988. At first, I was in charge of paperwork, accounting, quotes… Very quickly, I wanted to go further and work with wood. Even back then, I loved the material and its smell. It really became a passion. After a course in varnish-tampon and another in woodturning, Nadine moved happily from the office to the workshop and from the workshop to the office, all the while bringing up her two boys.

Destiny
The Gestreau family is all about simple pleasures, the value of hard work and a job well done. Nature, the countryside, walks and family meals are the rhythms of Nadine’s and her family’s lives. A life on a gentle path. A simple life. A life that was to change on August 15 1988, when Dominique disappeared in a road accident*. A tragedy that plunged the whole family into deep sadness. A sadness and an inevitability to which Nadine refused to submit: “I had no choice, I had my two children, aged 3 and 6. I had no right to fall apart for them. I had to stay on my feet. Out of work, the young mother went back to school and took refresher courses in foreign languages and international trade: “I decided to leave France and Cognac to move to Spain”.

La chica
“Spain saved my life, I can say that without exaggeration. It’s a different way of living, a different way of looking at life. I rebuilt myself there. I didn’t go there to forget, but simply to live. I took the memories with me. I couldn’t stay in the house where we all lived together in Cognac. It was too complicated for my children and for me. It wasn’t easy to get away from my parents and in-laws, but it was the right thing to do. And don’t ask me why, but I’ve always been attracted to Spain, Spanish culture and music in particular. As soon as I hear a ‘Latino’ rhythm, I want to dance. It was in a steel company that Nadine set about putting her life back together. “It was a very masculine environment, and everyone called me La Chica,” she recalls. “But I had character, I have character. I worked as a quality manager. We responded to invitations to tender from major groups for the dismantling and recycling of metals. I was in charge of sorting. It was an enriching experience on both a human and professional level.

Back to familiar ground
Homesickness, the need to return to their roots, to the land that nurtured them. Nadine’s two sons felt the need to see their grandparents more often, to spend time with them. Nadine and her two sons returned to Cognac, without ever really having left. It was at Tonnellerie Vernou, in Gensac-La-Pallue, that Nadine was to rebound professionally. “The wood, the workshop, the smells… everything was familiar to me. As a native of Cognac, I knew all about cooperage. I liked it right away, I felt in my element. And, between you and me, it’s much nicer to sell oak barrels than scrap metal. At Vernou, then Doreau from 2010**, Nadine (re)found a family, values and a state of mind that suited her: “It’s a big family, there’s a lot of solidarity, sharing and mutual support. We enjoy working here. I haven’t seen 18 years go by.

Three questions for Nadine:
Nadine, you joined Tonnellerie Vernou, which became part of the Doreau group in 2010 and then Charlois in 2019. How did you experience these changes?

There haven’t been any major changes. Except for the name, which changed when we went from Vernou to Doreau. Like a lot of people, I was a bit apprehensive when I joined Charlois, but there’s always that family spirit that’s very much present. The transition went smoothly. It’s a great company with human values,” he says.

You’ll be retiring in a few days. How are you coping with that?

I’ve been prepared for it. I could have been there a few years ago, had the status of “conjoint-collaborateur” existed when I was working with my husband. I’m going to devote time to my children and grandchildren, to my great-granddaughter who’s just been born, and to my parents too, who are elderly. I’ve got lots of things to do.

Do you have any projects in mind?

Quite a lot. I’m going to enjoy life and the people I love. I’ll give myself a bit of time and then I’ll decide. I’m thinking of doing some voluntary work, helping others. I love writing, and I’d like to have become a public writer. I’ll probably end up working for an association that helps people with their daily chores and deal with the administrative departments. I have this need to be intellectually active, to be useful, to help others. And then, I’ll probably come to Nièvre for “La Forêt enchante Murlin”, I like going there. If need be, I’ll be happy to lend a hand.

*published in agreement with Nadine Gestreau.

**Vernou cooperage was bought by Doreau in 2010.

Picture © Christophe Deschanel