The Boudreau Wine & Company store in San Marco is bringing the wine expertise of a certified sommelier into a retail setting.
Owner Brandon Boudreau, 33, opened the shop at 1636 Hendricks Ave., Suite B, in mid-April. His selections are mostly from small-batch wineries around the world that use lesser-known grape varietals.
“A lot of the varietals that we’re getting are the first time they’ve ever been in North Florida. So we’re reaching out to importers in Miami that don’t really think much of North Florida, and then asking them to let us be the first account to get their wines up here,” Boudreau said.
“Our goal is to fill our shelves with a very wide rotating selection,” he said, with every year having about 1,000 individual labels come and go on the shelves.
Because production is limited, the store may receive an allotment of one case or less from some producers and Boudreau expects his shelves to look different nearly every week.
For example, one wine he is bringing in is grown on a single hectare, or about 2½ acres, in the Alps. Only 100 cases are made annually.
He estimated it cost around $100,000 to start the store.
Boudreau is the only employee.
After examining several locations, he wanted to open in the San Marco area because there wasn’t a similar wine experience nearby.
Boudreau has lived most of his life in Jacksonville. He earned his sommelier accreditation eight years ago. He worked at Rue Saint Marc and Orsay in Jacksonville before landing a job at the Georgian Rooms at The Cloister in Sea Island, Georgia. There, he was knowledgeable about its 80-page wine list.
He worked there for four years. During that time, he and his brother, Nicholas, who is also an accredited sommelier, opened a similar shop in Brunswick, Georgia, called Newcastle Wine Merchant.
“We’ll be doing lots of collaborations with restaurants. I want to curate more wine experiences for Jacksonville,” he said.
“It’s also a really nice central location. So we get people popping off the highway, get people south of us. I think Jacksonville is unique that there’s so many little pockets, and it is really easy to get here from Murray Hill or Mandarin. This is ... a good centralized location.”
Boutique wines need not be expensive. The least-expensive bottle currently is $16 and the most expensive tops out at about $200. Most of the inventory is $20 to $30 per bottle.
He already has connections with area athletes and business executives for whom he places exclusive orders of more expensive wines.
Boudreau is sourcing wine from around the world, so President Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs have to be considered. Instead of a detriment, that may work to his advantage.
“What’s so great about selling wine in this scenario is that there’s always going to be things that are underpriced and overpriced, and an expert is always going to be able to figure out where the hidden gems are,” he said.
“We’ll always find good value propositions, even with price increases. It might encourage people to be more curious to try grapes they’ve never heard of.”
The store has a wine club with three tiers. Beginning in June, members will receive wines from Boudreau and his brother who write personalized tasting notes about that month’s package.
The Grand Boudreau level is $110 a month and includes two European reds and one white; Club Boudreau is $90 a month and is two reds and one white; Petit Boudreau is $60 for two reds or two whites.
Membership perks include 10% off wine purchases and advance ticket sales to store events. There is no yearly commitment.
His marketing strategy includes working with area restaurants to pair wines with prix-fixe dinner programs.
His store will not sell food. However, he does sell Gabriel-Glas wine glasses from Austria. Rene Gabriel, a Swiss wine critic and author, has invented what he considers the universal wine glass, suitable for nearly every style of wine.
The Boudreau Wine & Company is open 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.