Cheers to Rachel Merriam, working six days a week at her charming new shop in Ancram and loving every minute.
Growing up watching her grandfather run a successful car dealership in New Haven gave Rachel Merriam a good sense of what it takes to run a business. Entrepreneurism was always bouncing around somewhere in her mind, but she decided to take a first-things-first approach and follow her heart to the Culinary Institute of America. In short order she fell in love with the leafy Hyde Park campus in particular and the Hudson Valley in general and got on a career path that would ultimately lead her to one of Manhattan’s hottest restaurants. Choosing a front-of-house job over a back-of-house one because it paid more, she happily worked her way up to wine director, and then went to work for a well-regarded wine importer and distributor for 18 months.
Just as Covid was starting to roil, a friend decided to buy the Hudson Chatham Winery in Ghent, and Merriam took the opportunity offered to learn about production and vineyard management firsthand. It was during that time that she started to feel like launching something of her own was finally in the cards. She dreamed of a wine with ethically made picks from local producers. A few area realtors showed her potential properties, but nothing seemed quite right. Ultimately, she found what she was looking for on Zillow, in the form of a listing for a 20- × 40-foot building that had been vacant for a decade. “Really it was just a shambles,” recalls Merriam with a laugh. “And that’s being generous.”
A thorough two-year renovation to make the shop not just habitable, but wholly hospitable, took hope, sweat, anxiety, and tears. But it was absolutely worth all the stress, according to Merriam. (It’s also technically not over, since she intends to expand the second floor to make more room for special events and create a welcoming outdoor patio.) Merriam curates Fulton & Forbes’ inventory based on taste and her deep well of industry knowledge, of course, but also in keeping with her personal vision of supporting small producers who honor sustainability and lean into the concept of biodynamic winemaking, which is a holistic approach to vineyard management. “For instance, think teas and tinctures instead of pesticides to deal with bugs that can harm vines,” Merriam offers. Going forward, what she carries will also depend on conversations she has with customers as the shop’s sole proprietor. “I love to really talk to the people who come in and consider those conversations a big part of my day,” says Merriam. “I want to carry a mix of wines and spirits that appeals to locals, too, not just the weekenders.”
Fulton & Forbes is named after the cross streets where owner Rachel Merriam’s grandfather opened his first business in New Haven, CT. Photo by Jason Wiker.
Current bottles on offer hail from Hudson Chatham Winery in Ghent, Milea Estate Vineyard in Staatsburg, and Field Supply Wine in Ancram. There’s also local gin and brandy from Branchwater Farms in Red Hook and gin from Catskill Provisions. When she’s not tweaking the wine list, Merriam sources housewares such as table linens, ice buckets, glasses, decanters, and cocktail sets, which are artfully arranged for sale throughout the shop. “In my mind, even though wine is why I started this, I wanted to create the vibe of a classic Hudson antiques store.” She has, and then some.
Follow @FultonandForbes on Instagram for inventory updates, info about tastings, and more.
