Alexia Elichiry is, first and foremost, a problem solver, one who doesn’t shy away from big questions. That much is apparent simply in her job description; not many people start a statewide company at the age of 27. Elichiry is the owner of De Nux Distributors LLC, a 3-year-old business that is one of only 10 active beverage distributors in Arkansas. That alone would put her in rarefied company as an influencer of Arkansas’ wine and spirits scene.
But when you start asking around liquor stores and restaurants, you find that Elichiry is a well-known fixer. When bartenders or retailers want a certain spirit or wine brought in, chances are they will be turning to Elichiry to get what they want. And with the recent boom in Little Rock bartending and wine curation, Elichiry has become an unseen force in bringing new beverages to Arkansas palates.
HOW BOOZE IS SOLD IN ARKANSAS
None of Elichiry’s story is possible without Arkansas’ somewhat unique system of getting alcohol from creators into your glass. The state takes a three-tier approach. At the top are the manufacturers and importers, the ones who either create the product or bring it into the U.S. Arkansas adds a second tier made up of distributors, companies that buy from importers and manufacturers, then sell to the third tier: restaurants and retailers. It is a system that many outside The Natural State might find foreign.
“There is no hopping back and forth, and in most other states, there is,” Elichiry says. “You can buy directly from the winery and have it shipped to your house. You can’t do that here.”
In addition to the three-tier approach, Arkansas is also a brand-franchise state, meaning once an importer or manufacturer has signed with a distributor, they cannot break that agreement to work with another distributor, except in some rare situations. The rules and regulations in Arkansas mean that competition among distributors can be fierce because adding the right brand to your portfolio can be extremely lucrative.
TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT
One of the finest things I’ve tasted this year was a sip of El Dorado 25-year-aged rum, an elixir so soft and balanced that I could barely taste the alcohol. If you could somehow drink pure vanilla extract — only make it sweeter, deeper and far more complex — you might get close to this spirit, one of the best I’ve ever had.
This magnificent spirit and the other rums from El Dorado are in Arkansas only because Elichiry listened to a complaint. Former Yellow Rocket Concepts beverage director Lee Edwards tasted El Dorado’s products on one of his trips out of state and began working to get these rums in bars. It was Elichiry’s De Nux that worked to make contact with El Dorado and bring the brand into a new market. The same goes for Pierre Ferrand dry curacao, a spirit so beloved by bar enthusiasts nationwide that The New York Times and Washington Post ran features on how it was created from 19th century recipes. De Nux began working with Maison Ferrand, owner of the Pierre Ferrand name. And along with the dry curacao, De Nux acquired other Maison Ferrand products, including Citadelle gin and Plantation rum.
These are the names you can now find on mixed-drinks menus at the most respected bars in Little Rock, from South on Main to Capital Bar and Grill to Big Orange and 109 & Co. These bars and others like them have made Little Rock what many feel is a nationally underrated cocktail city, and De Nux is a big contributor to that shift in quality.
IT ALL STARTS WITH WINE
It’s not hard to track Elichiry’s career path, starting even before she was born. Her family is French (“De Nux” comes from her family’s heritage), and wine was always present at both large family gatherings and quiet dinnertime meals. That led her to an early start in the restaurant industry.
“I got my first job at Macaroni Grill, carrying around that big bottle of Chianti,” Elichiry says. “I have to say that wine has always been a part of my culture and family life, so having always been around wine and being in the restaurant world, I naturally segued into that.”
Elichiry really started focusing on wine at Trio’s Restaurant on Cantrell Road, where chef and owner Capi Peck gave her the reins of the restaurant’s beverage program. “[Peck] let me be in charge of her complete wine list, like, do whatever I want. I learned a lot from wine reps, learned a lot just about how to categorize a wine list. I started tasting different wines, becoming more accustomed to the entire wine world.
“Eventually, I didn’t want to do the culinary aspect of it, even though I enjoy combining flavors and all that stuff. I decided to leave the restaurant business, so my stepdad said, ‘Why not the wine business?’ So I decided to go for it.”
Finding brands that weren’t already snatched up wasn’t easy, especially California wines, which make up close to 90 percent of all wine consumed in Arkansas. Elichiry started by reaching out to Roy Piper, who was one of the more active figures in promoting Napa Valley wines. Piper put her in contact with wineries that weren’t getting as much exposure, and Elichiry took it from there. “My first wine was Fairchild, so a $70 or $80 bottle of wine,” Elichiry says. “It started out with just taste, and then it moved into price points, you know, I can’t just bring in only expensive Napa cabs because they taste amazing or only expensive French stuff. So I started finding South American wines that were really good quality at a lesser price point. What I really want is something with a low and high price point from every region of the world.”
THE IMPORTANCE OF FAMILY
Family is a key theme for De Nux Distributors. Elichiry runs the business with her mother, Patricia Green, who helps with sampling and invoicing, and her brother, Brice Ward, who handles delivery and warehouse management. When sitting down in the storage area you can feel the bond as the three shout at one another about a cognac they need to restock or a wine delivery that has to go out that day. “I couldn’t do it without them,” Elichiry says.
But there’s also a family feel to the way Elichiry conducts her business with manufacturers and restaurants. Many of the brands she brings in are small-batch works, with only limited quantities available.
“With a lot of these things, the winemaker has numbered the bottle, so I think it’s really cool that you can get something that’s not mass produced,” she says. “It’s something that these manufacturers really care about, and it’s usually from their family to yours. And I love that I can offer that.”
The relationships Elichiry has forged, coupled with her drive to bring in everything she can to please her customers, is certainly making its mark on Little Rock’s beverage scene. And while those bonds are vital to Elichiry, her true passion is for the product itself, something she confirmed as we wrapped up our conversation.
“It’s just about what’s inside of that bottle,” she says. “It has to be tasty.”