Our Story

My name is Karl Calini. I was born in France, my grandparents in Italy; I grew up in the Languedoc-Roussillon region of the South of France which is the single biggest wine-producing region in the world, being responsible for more than a third of France's total wine production.

Riding my bike through the vineyards on the old limestone and gravel roads is one of my favorite memories. Being able to work in a small winery for a few francs earned you enough money to buy nonsense and candy in the village store.

From adolescence on, I was interested in American football, movies, and music. When the opportunity came to study abroad, I took it, and I was placed in a home in the middle of the United States in a place I only knew from the Wizard of Oz: Kansas City. During high school I met my wife, and it was love at first sight. After 20 years, we are still passionately in love and have three amazing kids.

Once I decided to import wine from the South of France, I contacted a small winery in Coconato, Italy, in the Piemonte Region and the two first wine labels were born: Calini Wines and Le French Frog. Being able to bring old world wines to the United States is a blessing for which I am grateful every day.