Credit: Patrick Grego
In the midst of the pandemic, Antoine Lefort found himself adjusting to the realities of remote work. Though he enjoyed spending more time at his Stanfordville home on Stissing Lane, he missed the social interactions of his pre-COVID life, living and working full-time as a chief financial officer in New York City. Lefort felt the social benefits of a second job would be well worth his time and effort.
In April 2021, Lefort opened Le Caviste — French for ‘the wine merchant’ — at 2256 Bulls Head Road, in the heart of Stanfordville. “It’s a great weekend business, so the balance is natural,” Lefort said, “It doesn’t conflict with my job, and I have help too.”
Originally from Dunkirk, France, Lefort moved to New York City in 2004. He purchased his home in Stanfordville in 2015, where with his wife and their four children he’s been living full-time since 2020. The idea of starting a wine shop was a natural extension of Lefort’s French roots and his deep-seated passion for wine.
Credit: Patrick Grego
Upon opening, Le Caviste showcased an inventory that was 80% French. Since then, Lefort has diversified his shelves and carries only 60% French vintages. He and his customers partake in a give-and-take, with Lefort trying to satisfy his customers’ preferences as they warm to some of his favorites. “People tended to favor classics, like Bordeaux and Burgundies, and that’s how I curated my collection,” Lefort said. “Now I’m trying to spice it up, introduce new things, explore more remote regions than you usually see.”
Lefort himself has a passion for natural wines. Produced with little or no sulfites, they offer a taste experience distinct from wines created using more common mass production processes. Lefort said natural wines are produced using a combination of highly refined traditional winemaking methods and newly developed techniques.
Lefort’s favorite natural winemakers at the moment are Emma and Andrew Neilsen, who produce vintages in and around Burgundy under the brand Le Grappin. “The taste is really interesting,” Lefort said. “It really leaves the fruit as it is, without too much CO2. It’s a very minimal addition of CO2.”
Wine-obsessed engineers, like the Neilsens, have advanced the field to the extent it now enjoys its own designation, vin methode nature, assigned by the French government. “These wines are a little brighter, with less tannins than a typical mass-produced bottle,” Lefort said. “This generation has much better balance and clarity than natural wines of 20 years ago.”
Le Caviste more than covers Lefort’s costs, he said, though business varies over the course of the year. January through March are slow, but with warmer weather the pace builds up, and the end-of-year holiday season brings the heaviest traffic. The shop was doing well enough that within a couple of months of opening, Lefort hired Matthew Seipp to help out. Though new to the world of wine, Seipp has proven to be a fast learner and offers customers suggestions of his own.
Credit: Patrick Grego
On a recent afternoon, Stanfordville resident Steve Bruman, owner of the coworking and community-building space Bangallworks, stopped in for two bottles. “Antoine’s taste has cared for the community,” Bruman said. “It draws people in, and you don’t have to drive as far, there’s a great selection here and it’s a beautiful store.”
Customers favor expensive offerings during the holidays but often look for something cheaper during the week or for a summer Saturday. Lefort finds selecting affordable everyday wines the hardest part of the job. “I am very stubborn about it,” he said. “I won’t sell a wine I don’t enjoy, but I end up tasting a lot of bad wine. It takes a lot of hunting. It is very satisfying to find something at a good price point before it is widely discovered.”
Lefort’s new venture has provided his sought-after social interaction in many forms. He offers a wine tasting of two or three labels on Saturday afternoons and closes the shop occasionally for more formal food and wine pairings. Lefort even held a true blind tasting, inspired by the series “Drops of God” on Apple TV. “Tasting with a mask on, trying to guess the color, the grape — some people really had a knack for it. It was a lot of fun,” Lefort said.
Le Caviste continues to evolve. Lefort constantly reassesses his selection and hopes to add spirits to the mix soon. The expanded lineup will be complementary to a continued focus on wine, with a nod to area distillers. “It won’t be a large selection, but we’ll have some cognacs, some Armagnacs, some of the great local whiskeys and bourbons,” Lefort said.
As Le Caviste enters its fourth year of business, Lefort looks forward to offering recommendations across an even wider range of products. “I always encourage people to try different styles of wine, or regions they’ve never considered before,” he said. “They usually end up liking it, and that’s good!”
Asked if he ever chooses something that fails to sell, he replied, “Rarely. Worst case, I can just drink it myself!”