by Jacqueline Pennington

These days in South End, you’ll find chain restaurants from other major cities looking to make a name for themselves in Charlotte’s fastest growing neighborhood inside buildings that look like they were copied and pasted from one street over. For Chris Sarette, bringing a new concept to Charlotte is rooted in very different ideals. Sarette and his partner quickly fell in love with the space that will hold wine bar Frenchy’s in part because of its history. 

The 1933 building is one of the few left in South End that was standing almost 100 years ago, when the neighborhood was a starkly different place. “I wanted some old world vibes, like those fantastic wine bars that you find in Paris that you can’t tell if they’re 10 years old or 100 years old,” Sarette says. Appreciating the character and hard work that went into the building they chose is a mentality that’s reflected throughout the concept.

Frenchy’s will feature 300 beers and 400 wines that can be enjoyed on site or taken to go. When it comes to the selection, Sarette hopes to share small production and artisanal options across all their offerings. 

“I’m excited to showcase things that the U.S. as a whole is getting 100 cases and North Carolina gets maybe a dozen of those cases,” he says. “Working with very small producers and folks that have a particular passion for doing things the hard way. We use natural wine to describe a lot of different practices that fall under that banner, be it hand harvesting, dry farming and really making things on a super small scale. That’s just what we’re passionate about.”

Sarette envisions Frenchy’s being a place where his customers can come to expand their breadth of knowledge around the beverages that he and his partner have carefully curated. “I think wine historically is a very intimidating subject for a lot of people and there’s people that try to gatekeep it and make it mysterious. We’re really excited to be a place where people can figure out what they like on the wine side, maybe for the first time,” he says. “We want to be a place that demystifies wine as much as possible and beer for that matter too. We’ll have hundreds of beers that people have never had before as well.”

The 3,000 square foot split-level space welcomes you with a mezzanine that overlooks the main bar area. Bike hooks are available near the entrance for those that want an alternative to braving the parking in South End. As you walk down to the lower level, a wall of wine bottles sits along one side and coolers line the majority of the back wall. There’s a small counter that will be used for weekly tastings and the u-shaped bar sits in the center of the lower level with plenty of seating and even an espresso machine for anyone in need of a pick-me-up. A display case on the bar will house options for their DIY charcuterie. Sarette has been working with Orman’s Cheese Shop and Verdant Bread for part of the selection of local snacks. In addition to beer and wine, sake and non-alcoholic beverages will be sold in the cooler along with a non-alcoholic beer option on draught. 

“I’ve dreamed of owning and operating a bottle shop for the last 12 years now,” says Sarette who grew up with his father working in the beverage industry. After years of working in the industry himself and fine-tuning the details of his vision, he’ll finally have his bottle shop.

Sarette and his partner are aiming to open in July pending a few final touches to the space, which is located at 200 W. Tremont Ave.