Philippine graduated from KEDGE, is passionate about oenology, and manages a wine cellar in Bordeaux.

If you are a fan of wines and spirits, you are probably familiar with the name "La Vignery". In just a few years, La Vignery shops, a cross between a supermarket and small wine boutique, have popped up all over France. The company also has a very successful online shop. Philippine Joyaux, KEDGE Business School EBP alumna, class of 2008, and MVS alumna, class of 2010, has been managing the La Vignery wine shop in Floirac for the past few months. 

Sometimes meetings that occur at a young age can lead to lifelong passions. 

Philippine was born in Martinique in 1987 and lived near the ocean for 15 years, before taking two solo trips, first to Ireland, then England to attend summer camps. During one of these initiatory journeys, she met with a group of Venezuelans with whom she became very close friends. So close, in fact, that they invited her to visit them in Venezuela the following summer. She then fell in love with South-America. The following summer, she travelled to San Francisco, where she worked as a sales assistant for a French wine negotiator. That is where she first discovered the world of oenology.

After her family moved to Bordeaux in 2001, in 2004 she entered the Franco-Spanish EBP programme at KEDGE. She had the opportunity to study in Madrid, and in Argentina, where her uncle, a wine producer, introduced her to her first glass of Malbec. After returning to France, Philippine had made up her mind, she wanted to pursue a career in the wine and spirits sector, so she joined the MVS programme at KEDGE, while working at the Arsac Winery. She learned a great deal about theoretical and practical oenology (she participated in the harvesting and winemaking processes at her uncle's winery in Mendoza and at the Château Haut Bailly). To complete her training, she joined the DUAD, and managed a wine cellar in Cap Ferret.  

When she entered the job market, Philippine decided to move to Switzerland, where she organised wine tasting fairs and contests and worked as a tour guide specialising in oenology. 

She met with a variety of different people and ended up participating in the developmnet of a young start-up, specialised in wine events. 

In 2013, her uncle in Argentina asked her if she would like to manage sales for his wine on the European market. So, she left Switzerland and moved back to Bordeaux, where for three years, she helped expand her uncle's wine business in a number of European countries. It was a rich and formative experience. However, she grew tired of working on her own, from home, and of constantly travelling. So she decided to work for herself, as a consultant and offer her services to companies working in the wine industry: website translation, communication on social media, sales representation, tour guide in the Bordeaux region...

Today, Philippine manages the La Vignery shop in Floriac! "It is a far cry from Venezuela, San Francisco or Switzerland, that is for sure, but this part of the Garonne region is developing quickly and this new position represents a major challenge!" she explains. 

Her 215m2 wine cellar carries more than 1,500 different wines, 250 different whiskeys and rums, and 400 different beers. Since last November, Philippine has been managing the store while helping develop the company's image. "Our objective is to make wine more accessible to all. And to do so, we organise different tasting workshops of different themes and regularly invite producers to come speak about their wines." 

"Every day, we have a hundred open bottles in the store. We like to give our customers the chance to discover new products and we believe it is essential that they are able to try the products before purchasing them. We are also available to give them personalised advice" Philippine explains. 

If you are organising a wedding or other event, La Vignery offers many attractive services, such as free delivery to your venue (within a 100 km radius around the shop), and buying back any unopened bottles. So that you have everything you need on D-day and you can plan big!

Still, with the idea to make wine more accessible to all, a number of seasonal events are organised throughout the year so that you can discover new products and benefit from special offers all year long. 

Philippine is offering 5% off anything in her shop to all KEDGE alumni, so don't hesitate to contact her by email at  bouliac@lavignery.fr

Or by telephone at 05.56.20.32.60

For more information, don't hesitate to like her Facebook page

And check out La Vignery's website: www.lavignery.fr

Bordeaux Contractor Ebp Entrepreneurship MVS MWS Start up Wine