A Brief History
The story of Paul M. Young Fine Wines is a story about passion and friendship. After working in the music and film industries for many years, I found myself downsized and in need of employment. Following my passion in wine as a consumer, I took a chance and decided it was time to follow my passion for wine. I started off as a broker for California wineries, and shortly afterwards, I was approached to represent another independent distributor, Union Wine Co. Union Wine Co. had a portfolio that included VinDivino (Italy and Austria), Classical Wines (Spain and Germany) and Weygandt-Metzler Importing (France and Australia).
A major event that has influenced me is the Hospice du Rhone Festival, held annually in Paso Robles. There I have met many great vignerons from around the world. And it was here that I became friends with François Villard, Yves Gangloff and Yves Cuilleron.
Union Wine Co. did not stay in business for very long, but the upshot was that I was able to transition from broker to distributor. I become the distributor for Weygandt-Metzler in California for the next eight years.
The transition from distributor to importer started at the 2007 Hospice du Rhone Festival, where at the bar in the Villa Creek Restaurant one evening, François Villard, noted vigneron from Condrieu and Cote Rotie, announced that he had just left his national importer and asked if I was interested in being his California Importer. With this, and an earlier meeting with Saint Andre de Figuiere, I decided it was the right time to start importing wines directly to California. This was a great beginning, as the producers were very complimentary to the wines I was distributing with Weygandt-Metzler.
Thanks to François Villard, Philippe Cambie, renowned oenologist from the Rhone valley, Luc Baudet from Mas Neuf, Roy Richards and Richard Kelly from Richards-Wolford, importers in England and co-owners of Le Soula, and many other friends, we have quickly grown our portfolio to over 40 producers.
Wine is good, friends are better.