Meet Alexis Percival, Beverage Director/Partner at Ruffian & Kindred NYC
Alexis Percival is pushing the envelope, curating eclectic wines for Ruffian and Kindred, two cozy wine bars in New York City's East Village neighborhood.
After graduating in 2003 from the University of Rhode Island with a French Arts Degree, Alexis moved to Marseille, France, and worked as a supplemental educator, teaching English to kids in junior high school. While in France, she developed a curiosity about wine and took a deep dive into tasting wines from the Rhône Valley, among other regions.
In 2004, after a year in France, Alexis moved back to Rhode Island. However, she was not able to find any “direction” and decided to move to New York City. She found two part-time jobs, the first as a gallery manager in the daytime and the second, as a hostess in a French restaurant. She has always been interested in hospitality and events: "I love coming up with themes and love the energy about meeting people."
Alexis worked two jobs for a couple of years until she embarked on a new adventure as a bartender at the prestigious Lelabar, one of the best wine bars in New York City's West Village neighborhood. The energy and extensive wine list were intimidating to say the least. This led to Alexis’ new-found passion to learn more about wine. She enrolled in The International Wine Center and earned her W.S.E.T. Intermediate and Advanced certificates in 2013: "It was good to set that foundation officially." Along the way, she met Patrick Cournot, Owner of Ruffian N.Y.C., who, after getting to know her, offered her a Sommelier position at his then upcoming new venture, Ruffian.
After joining Ruffian in 2016, Alexis was hungry for more. She started studying for her Sommelier certification with the Court of Master Sommeliers and obtained the coveted accreditation in 2017: "I needed to prove that I was up to that high level and wanted to challenge myself." As if Alexis was not busy enough, she and her business partners started working on a new project, Kindred, located in the East Village neighborhood of NYC, which opened in 2019. Along with starting Kindred, they simultaneously created Oh My Gato Hospitality Group.
Kindred is a charming wine bar focused on Croatian, Slovenian, and Italian wines. The food is as eccentric as the wine list and the venue as cozy as you want it to be. Kindred is championing these regions in Manhattan: "Kindred is more of a regional concept than country-specific." The wine list changes frequently, given the small quantities of those wines actually making it to the U.S. Alexis is continuously challenging herself to keep things exciting and compelling: "It is a little bit more challenging in terms of diversity because we're talking about small geographic regions. I have to push myself to talk and taste with importers that do focus on those regions to fill in the gaps."
Alexis travels abroad (when time permits) to expand her knowledge and palate, discovering gems along the way, such as Slovenian orange wines and Croatian wineries run by a new generation of winemakers. Once back from her travels, she is always excited to be able to introduce her customers to “unfamiliar” regions, wines, and grapes: "People, in general, are curious to try something new, I don't think that was true five or six years ago", says Alexis. She feels social media has opened a door to non-foodies/non-winos who love to experiment with something new. Brands now understand that and adjust their focus to a younger demographic.
In her nearly non-existent spare time, Alexis found the passion to launch a women's wine tasting club, allowing women in the industry to speak freely and not be intimidated. The group is open to hospitality and wine women, studying for their Sommelier certification, as well as any other related designation. A theme is set, and they meet every other Monday. Everyone brings a bottle. They taste and share their thoughts: "We still follow the visual nose-palate conclusion format, but we do it as a group. Our tasting sessions vary from unexpected regions, such as the Republic of Georgia, to classic Burgundy."
Alexis has many hopes and dreams, and one of them is to have more time to travel to wine regions. Unfortunately, COVID-19 has put a temporary hold to this project, but she remains hopeful and positive.
Ruffian is currently offering pick-up and delivery service with a limited food menu and operating as a wine shop (see selection here). Kindred is set-up as a specialty grocery shop for in-person shopping by appointment, delivery, and meal kits are also available (click here to learn more). Last but not least, wine and cooking classes are available online.
I hope to visit Ruffian and Kindred NYC again very soon.
Be well and stay safe!
Anna
