Evelyne CHANSON – Consultant in Quality Control of Wines and Spirits
I created EC Consulting in 2010, after 30 years of career in the field of Quality Control Research and Development of Wines and Spirits. For more than 10 years, I have been providing my expertise to companies or independent laboratories.
I noticed that there was little technical documentation for spirits producers. I created this Blog to fill this gap.
The articles published here are all technical articles. It will be fed by my own expertise and that of my Network of Spirits Experts.
I invite you to discover the first articles. They may appear in several of the themes of the menu.
If you do not find the information you are looking for, please do not hesitate to contact me and describe your concern.
With my technical partners, we will study your request. Your proposal may eventually be the subject of a new article.
My professional career
In 1982, at the age of 22, I obtained an engineering degree from the Bordeaux School of Physics and Chemistry. With a keen interest in the world of research, I embarked on a thesis that led me to specialize in advanced analytical techniques such as gas and liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry, NMR, and infrared spectroscopy.
In 1986, I worked for 6 months at IBM’s Quality Control Laboratory in Pessac, where I gained experience in customer audits, quality circles, and intranet networking with fellow engineers.
During the same year, I was recruited by Baron Philippe de Rothschild to establish a Research and Quality Control Laboratory for their three flagship wineries and the growing Négociant activity, Mouton Cadet. Under the guidance of Patrick LEON (Technical Director of the entire group at the time) and Pascal MARTY (Oenologist), I faced numerous challenges in research and production control activities for the wineries and Négociant:
– Research on the polyphenolic ripeness of grapes.
– Development of new, faster, and more reliable analysis techniques for routine analyses, contaminants, microbiological control, dry matter testing, etc.
– Computerization and implementation of quality assurance and subsequent accreditation.
This laboratory was among the first wine analysis laboratories to be accredited by COFRAC.
After 7 years, this laboratory became one of the most modern and high-performing facilities in the wine industry.
During that time, I met Robert LEAUTE, the Technical Director at Rémy-Martin, responsible for research and development across the entire group. At the request of Seguin-Moreau cooperage, we collaborated for 2 years on a joint research project on oak wood drying.
In 1994, I decided to leave Baron Philippe de Rothschild and establish my own laboratory in Cognac: LEC (Laboratoire Evelyne CHANSON). I partnered with Robert LEAUTE to cater to the specific needs of distillers and spirit producers.
In 1996, the LEC laboratory obtained accreditation for numerous Wines and Spirits analyses. It was the combination of our expertise that allowed this laboratory to gain international recognition in the spirits industry a few years later.
I led LEC for over 15 years.
In 2010, I sold my shares in LEC to my partner.
Due to the demand from some of my clients, I became an independent consultant, dedicating myself fully to my field of expertise: sharing my know-how with independent laboratories and companies seeking to establish, audit, or develop their own production controls.
I provided my expertise to numerous companies in France and abroad. Throughout my career, I collaborated with other Spirits Service Providers, many of whom are now part of my network.
Computer science is another passion of mine. Since 1992, I have been developing computer programs for laboratory management in accordance with accreditation standards.
In 2012, with the assistance of HS3D, I created digitized applications to facilitate, ensure accuracy, and track the various calculations and conversions required in the production of wines and spirits. These applications are marketed under the Labox® brand.
With my scientific background, I ensured the reliability of reference charts and calculations through extensive research in the original literature and my own work, some of which was published by the International Organization of Legal Metrology in 2015.
In addition to writing technical articles, I now devote part of my time to transferring my expertise to Labox applications to develop web applications dedicated to the Wines and Spirits industry.