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University of Arizona alumni pair up to run online wine retail company

Argaux
Posted at 5:55 AM, Mar 05, 2021
and last updated 2021-03-05 09:55:21-05

TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — It started in the dorms at the University of Arizona.

"We bonded over our love for food, cooking and entertaining. It started with a yearning for that as we didn't have a kitchen or home in the dorms," said Argaux Co-Founder Arden Montgomery.

Arden Montgomery and Margaux Reaume were an inseparable pair during their four years at the University of Arizona. They said they always dreamed up big plans for a business they, one day, hoped to start.

"We really enjoyed hopping around Tucson and finding new places that opened up while we were there. We took what we liked from those places. We asked ourselves why we loved it and how we could implement a part of the company into something we could craft later on," said Argaux Co-Founder, Margaux Reaume.

In 2015, just a year after graduation, Montgomery and Reaume started Argaux. The company offers a unique selection of wine, online.

"We focus on small production, family-owned wines from all over the world that are sustainably farmed. That is very important to us," said Reaume.

Since last March, Argaux's Blinding Tasting Kit has been their #1 bestseller. Customers don't even have to leave their homes. Argaux provides sommeliers who can walk customers through a tasting on video chat.

"This year was a perfect example of how things can be thrown at you. You have to be agile and pivot as a company to create things for the current environment of the world," said Reaume.

To this day, Montgomery and Reaume still take inspiration from all they saw, ate and drank in Tucson.

"You're surrounded by creative people. It's a really unique city. It was good experience for us," said Montgomery.