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Wonderful Wine And Design At Vintage Marshall
Wonderful Wine And Design At Vintage Marshall
By Jan Mercker
Downtown Marshall is a whole vibe. And restaurateur and “brocanteur” Julien Lacaze is at the heart of it all.
Lacaze recently moved his latest venture, Vintage, around the corner to Main Street, combining his passion for imported antiques and hidden gem European wines.
The shop’s name reflects Lacaze’s love of all things retro and his longstanding commitment to sourcing excellent wines from small producers. Lacaze built his reputation as a wine aficionado while running his family’s French bistro in Marshall. Selling unique imported wines and antiques together is a natural fit, he says.
“The wine is just kind of a different draw,” he said.“We have a following thanks to the restaurant. Wines have always been part of our family business.”
On the wine side, Lacaze’s focus is on bargains from smaller producers, and he works closely with local distributors who specialize in hidden gems from grower/producers. Lacaze’s wife, Cassandra, is also a wine pro, and the couple met working at a local vineyard.
“Just like the furniture, everything is imported,” Lacaze said. “We specialize in French, Italian and Spanish wines…There’s no big names like you find at Wegmans or Total Wine. What we really had a reputation for at the restaurant was things that really had a good value–wines that are great but don’t break the bank. These little Bordeaux from small mom-and-pop vineyards that aren’t mass produced. It’s not an expensive bottle, but if you don’t know the price you’re really amazed.”
Lacaze was born in the U.S. to French parents and uses his dual nationality and family history to source antiques in France. He and Cassandra have a warehouse space in France and do the sourcing themselves.
“We have our local stores and markets, and we’ll go out into the country to the “brocants” and we’ll pick and squirrel everything away in our warehouse,” he said. “We do our own shopping so there’s not really a middleman, and we get a lot of compliments on our pricing.”
The shop also focuses on art and decor, and Lacaze said its aesthetic continues to evolve in response to an upscale clientele.
“When we first started, I took on a lot of pieces that needed work—things that I was going to refinish. As the business grew, the clientele evolved, and we ended up getting things that were more high-end: pieces from the 18th Century or early 19th Century, and that’s kind of our strong point now.”
Lacaze grew up in his father’s restaurant in Marshall said he’s loving the town’s ongoing evolution as a design hub, and the heart of it all is what he calls “our little corner” at Main and Frost. The former Vintage building just a block away is now The Frost Street Collective, a mix of antiques and vintage dealers, and more designfocused businesses are moving downtown.
“To see all of the changes and all of the things that are happening, between the butcher, the bakery, the restaurants in town, it’s really becoming a cool spot and the location is fantastic,” he said. “This little corridor has all of these cool little businesses all in the antique and design space, and it’ll be a bigger draw because people aren’t just coming to check out one space.”
Details:
Vintage is located at 8371 W. Main Street in
Marshall. Details: vintagemarshallva.com.
