Today we’d like to introduce you to Tim Smith and Phyllis Adatto.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Tim and Phyllis. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
The origins of Houston’s French Country Wines began with not looking to sell wine but to find it. Phyllis and I had traveled France numerous times. Exploring the country-side not only brought to light many excellent, inexpensive artisan wines in all the wine-growing regions, it also led to the painful knowledge that most of our favorites were not available in the United States.
These vineyards, many worked by the same family for generations if not centuries, are small, hands-on operations following procedures long replaced by mechanization and technology at the large production firms. In comparison, the cases of wine produced are a fraction of that of the large wineries, and thus, too few to be of interest to the large importers which bring French wines into the United States. The winemakers have either learned to make do selling their bottles within France and Europe or selling their grapes to larger winemakers.
What makes these wines from family-run vineyards worth this effort?
In simple terms, it’s like choosing between a chef-owned and run local restaurant and a large chain. There’s a familiar face in the kitchen. There’s someone who knows what you like and works with you to get it. There’s a name and a story and a friendship.
One day it came to us, if we can’t find someone selling these wines, why not bring them here ourselves? Thus when French Country Wines opened its doors more than ten years ago, it deliberately set itself up to allow direct purchasing from these old-world, family winemakers. The idea was to bring the great wines enjoyed at out-of-the-way French villages and towns to Houston for sale. That was the outlined goal of the business plan. It shouldn’t be overlooked that it was a way to get to France twice a year, and if the business didn’t work, it would leave a massive inventory for birthday and holiday gifts for friends and family for at least the next decade. Happily, the business has worked very well.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
As a small business in a highly competitive industry, we have had to struggle for recognition. Because of our size and limited portfolio, we do have difficulties retaining sales associates and retaining continuity of coverage for our restaurant customers. One of the things that makes us so unique is that we deal only with smaller vineyards whose production is too small for the large import companies to deal with. One of the drawbacks, is that we have these great wines from smaller vineyards whose production is small. We have the quality but not the quantity.
A constant challenge for all of us at French Country Wines is to help people understand what we are. This is not just another wine shop or French wine shop, but a business representing a very specific kind of wine made by specific and carefully chosen winemakers. The wines we sell come from all over France, but none of them are available for retail sale anywhere else in the state. And until people come in and see for themselves, it’s hard to convince them how reasonably priced these wines are.
There was a lot of frustration and a lot of frayed patience in building this business, but we are proud to say we are fairly well known now in Houston. Several years ago, we expanded our space to include a spacious tasting room that we can use for our public, free wine tastings ever Saturday from noon-6 p.m. and that we use for people wanting to arrange private parties and tastings. This has introduced us to a host of new customers.
This year, we also started a delivery program for customers inside Loop 610. That has been well received. As knowledge of wine grows in this country and more people get educated or educate themselves about wines they like and why they like them, we know our business will grow. It’s one thing to Google a wine someone wants to buy, and it’s another to pull out photos of the winemakers, their children and talk about the chateau they live in. People who like to go to a farmers’ market and purchase vegetables from the people who grew them, get a very similar experience with our wines.
All that said, we are into our 11th year of business, we’ve more than doubled the winemakers we represent – some who now visit Houston to further promote their wines, and we are still standing as an independent business.
French Country Wines – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
We personally import wines from all regions of France. Our wines are available in a number of restaurants, but as for retail sales, we are the only place these wines are available in Texas, and, in some cases, the United States. One of the most repeated comments from our customers is how reasonable the prices are.
French Country Wines created its own policies on dealing with producers who follow strict guidelines regarding sustainability and organic growing practices – not altogether a new way to grow grapes, but ways that have been abandoned by some for commercial reasons. With small wineries the farming methods can be witnessed, the harvests participated in and the bottling assured. The purchasing process involves only two entities – the winemaker and French Country Wines. Well, with a big ship in between, but it just hauls the refrigerated containers. Few retail wine shops anywhere can identify so closely with each and every bottle it sells.
We were one of the first to carry and promote wines from the Alsace which actually resulted in us being awarded by a centuries-old wine organization in the Alsace. Also, in 2007, we began promoting rosé wines from the south of France, long before the current craze for rosé wines got started.
Exploring France for wines is an adventure, and a great one at that. Each visit there involves checking in with current producers followed by tracking down prospective new winemakers whose names often come from fellow Houstonians – those who may have family or friends in France who are making some exceptional wines. Some great discoveries have been made exactly this way, and it’s a pretty cheap way for a company to send out scouts. The business relationships alone change all dynamics. The bottles at French Country Wines not only have vintages, regions and labels, they have faces. Family faces.
There are a lot worse things than sipping a glass of a really great wine made by someone you’ve met or heard stories about, maybe even recalling the day you shook the man’s hand and had lunch with his family. There have even been instances where we took part in the harvest.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Celebrating the tenth anniversary of a business we started with absolutely no prior experience in selling and importing wine was a pretty magical moment. Of course, the moment passed and we had to get back to work, but it was magical.
There is also a feeling of pride when long-time or sometimes, first-time customers come in and tell us about a French wine they’ve fallen in love with but have learned it’s not available in the U.S. When you’re able to call them back several months later to tell them you visited the vineyards, met the winemakers and their bottles will be on the spring shipment, it reminds us why we started this to begin with.
And personally there was something that happened we never expected, but were overwhelmed when it did. After discovering and importing a large number of wines from Alsace, winemakers there were so pleased with what we were doing in Houston, I (Tim) was invited to Alsace to be inducted into The Confrerie St. Etienne D’Alsace, an organization that has promoted all things wine in the region since 1561. It was a great a moving trip.
Contact Info:
- Address: 2433 Bartlett Street, Houston 77098
- Website: www.frenchcountrywines.com
- Phone: 713-993-9500
- Email: info@frenchcountrywines.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FrenchCountryWines/
Image Credit:
Anthony Rathbun
Getting in touch: VoyageHouston is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
