About David and the Wine Cellar
About David Mebane
Born in New Orleans and raised in Austin, I developed an early fascination with travel and culture. That curiosity took me to France in 1995, after my freshman year at Texas A&M University, where I worked in a small village in Normandy as a guide at an abbey founded in 1189 by King Richard the Lionheart.
France quickly became more than a destination. I returned each summer throughout college for work and study abroad programs, deepening both my language skills and my connection to the country. In 1998, while working in the Paris office of PricewaterhouseCoopers, I founded Fat Tire Tours, which officially launched the following year.
The following decade in Paris was a remarkable chapter for our family and the business. My wife, Kelly, and I built Fat Tire Tours while embracing life in the city we loved. Our son, Weston, was born in Paris in 2005. In 2007 we returned to Austin, and our daughter, Caroline, was born the next year.
Today, we are grateful to maintain a pied-à-terre just blocks from the Eiffel Tower, giving us the opportunity to return to the City of Light several times each year. Paris remains our home away from home.

Our Love for Wine
During our years in Paris, Kelly and I developed a deep appreciation for French wine, captivated by the way each bottle could feel both beautifully simple and endlessly complex. I found myself drawn to Saint Émilion for its structured, full-bodied reds, and to Sancerre in the Loire Valley for its vibrant Sauvignon Blanc and elegant rosé. We explored wines from across France, yet those two regions consistently felt like home.
Wine became woven into the fabric of our daily life. It elevated family dinners, lingered over conversations with friends, and defined unhurried weekend afternoons. Opening a bottle in Austin still transports us back to a picnic in the Champ de Mars, a glass in hand as the Eiffel Tower shimmered in the distance. Wine sets the tone, enhances the moment, and is always best when shared.
In 2015, I celebrated my 40th birthday in Saint Émilion and discovered extraordinary small producers tucked among the rolling vineyards surrounding the village. Four years later, I made my first visit to Sancerre and wondered why I had waited so long. While we had long enjoyed wines from well-known houses available in Paris and the United States, it was the small, family-owned domaines that truly captured our hearts. Their craftsmanship, authenticity, and sense of place were unmistakable.
We formed lasting relationships with several of these producers, and their wines remain a staple in both our Paris pied-à-terre and our home in Austin.

David's Wine Cellar
After years of sharing bottles from our personal collection with friends and family, a pattern became clear. They loved the same producers we did. Just as important, they discovered that exceptional French wine does not need to cost one hundred dollars a bottle.
What began as a simple idea, importing wine for our own cellar and a small circle of friends, quickly gained momentum. In 2018, I organized my first shipment from Saint Émilion to Austin. A handful of friends joined the order. Word spread quickly, and friends of friends asked to participate. The following year, our second order from the same château more than doubled in size.
In 2019, I placed our first order from Sancerre. It was larger than the first two Bordeaux shipments combined. To this day, many of us still say the same thing: we should have ordered more.
People began to realize that authentic, small-production French wine was accessible, fairly priced, and unlike anything found on local retail shelves. These were not mass-market labels. They were distinctive bottles that sparked conversation and offered something new around the table.
I also understand the common frustration of standing in a wine shop, faced with hundreds of choices and little guidance. Too often, the decision comes down to an attractive label or a higher price tag, followed by a silent hope that the wine will deliver once it is poured. It should not feel like a gamble. Finding great wine should feel personal, thoughtful, and reliable.
My goals are straightforward:
- To share the remarkable wines we have come to love in France with friends at home, and with the friends they gather around their own tables.
- To offer exceptional value. Outstanding wine does not have to come with an inflated price tag, and quality should never feel out of reach.
- To showcase small, family-owned French producers whose bottles are rarely seen on local shelves.
- To present a focused, thoughtfully curated selection rather than an overwhelming wall of labels with varying quality.
- To give friends the confidence to pour, serve, and speak about wine with ease.
- And above all, to enjoy it. Wine brings people together. It sparks conversation, marks celebrations, and turns ordinary evenings into memorable ones. It is meant to be shared. And yes, it is even more fun when it comes in a jeroboam.
The Winemakers
I have had the privilege of meeting many of the men and women who own and operate the wineries represented at David’s Wine Cellar. Several have even traveled to Austin to visit us.
These are passionate, hands-on producers who live and work on their land alongside their families. Their connection to their terroir is personal and deeply rooted. They are not distant brands but real people devoted to crafting wines that reflect where they come from. On your next trip to France, you can visit them yourself. You will be welcomed warmly, and very likely with a bottle already open.
I look forward to the opportunity to share a glass with you soon.
Santé.