An idea ferments
Couple turn dream into wine shop
Stephanie Browne says she became seriously interested in wine when she was out for dinner with friends and wanted to know more about the wine list she was reading. Her husband, Basil, says he awakened her interest in wine on their first date, in New York City, by introducing her to a Pouilly-Fuissé.
However it started, the Brownes have continued their quest to find tasty, memorable wines together. And now, they're sharing that passion with others.
The Brownes, who have been married for 20 years, opened the Bon Vivant Wine Company in Randolph at the end of April, after hatching the idea five years ago and earnestly planning for the past three.
"I've been nurturing it all these years," Basil says of the Gateway Plaza shop, which is close to Interstate 93. "It's been like my baby." He recently retired from a position at Brockton High School after teaching English as a second language for 15 years and now works full time at the shop.
Stephanie is known to wine enthusiasts as a founder of Divas Uncorked, a group of Boston-area African-American women who started a wine club that has grown since its beginning in 1999 into an internationally recognized education and advocacy group.
Divas Uncorked also hosts an annual wine and food festival on Martha's Vineyard and has its own wine label. Naturally, Bon Vivant carries the wine.
Browne calls Bon Vivant "my retirement job," only she hasn't figured out when she'll make that transition out of her full-time position in the IT department at Blue Cross Blue Shield. Until she does, Basil runs the store and Stephanie meets him there at the end of her day. "It's fun attacking something totally new," Basil says.
For Stephanie, the "totally new" is running a business more than it is touting and talking about wine.
From the start, she has been focused on the store's aesthetics. "I wanted it to feel very warm and friendly and approachable," she says. "I wanted it to look trendy and different and I wanted people to say 'Wow,' without it being too over the top for Massachusetts."
Sandwiched between a spa and Dunkin' Donuts, Bon Vivant manages to be strikingly chic and still inviting. The soft lighting, soothing blue floors, and sleek wine shelves make the shop look more like a wine bar than a typical wine store.
That's just the look Browne was going for, because she plans to host food and wine demonstrations or workshops and wants guests to mingle comfortably.
Even with the trendiness, Bon Vivant keeps most of the wines in the $8 to $17 range. The store does offer wines costing three times that much, but it caters mainly to people who want a reasonably priced, delicious bottle for themselves, for a party, or as a gift.
"Because it's pretty, people think it's expensive," she says. "But it isn't."
Stephanie says she's often asked why she chose Randolph for her new venture. With several towns, such as Milton, Holbrook, and Braintree, and the highway nearby, she thought the location would be ideal. Plus, the couple live a few miles away in Milton.
"Have you been in the store before?" asks Basil, as he greets each person who comes through the front door. While he points out where the wines are located, he doesn't hover but makes it clear he's happy to answer any questions or make suggestions.
The store features a wine kiosk, a computer accessible to any customer, that tracks recent purchases and can suggest food and wine pairings with bottles in stock. It's particularly helpful when customers forget a wine's name and want that same wine they had a week ago.
When Stephanie is in the shop, she enjoys explaining the layout to customers. On the walls are wines arranged according to the type of grape. The middle section of the store is for blends or less common wines, and the store also carries about 30 kinds of beer.
"I call it eclectic," she says, picking up a pinotage, a red from South Africa. "I like to be the only place you can get certain things."