Gilles Merlet expanded the family business in the 1970s and 1980s, when difficult conditions in Cognac led him to plant blackcurrants and develop Crème de Cassis alongside the distillery’s Cognac work. Today, Merlet produces Cognac, fruit liqueurs, eaux-de-vie and Pineau des Charentes, with Cognac production still centred on Fins Bois and around 40 hectares of family vines in Borderies and Fins Bois.