Oct 26, 2008

An idea fermentsBy Bridget SamburgBoston.com

Randolph, MA – 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.

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