Our Story

The idea for ¿Por qué no? (Why not? in English) began in 2011 when four best friends met in Spain for 12 days to explore the food, wine and culture of Catalonia, Andalusia, and Madrid.  One of us spoke Spanish and the rest of us...not so much.

One evening out, ¡Por qué no! became the very loud and enthusiastic group response whenever asked if we’d like another of anything:

“Some Jamón Ibérico for the table?” ¡Por qué no!

“How about some rabbit ribs?” (Um, OK.) ¡Por qué no!

“Patatas Bravas?” (Brave potatoes? Sure.) ¡Por qué no!

“Perhaps some Boquerones?” (Not sure what those are, but what the hell…) ¡Por qué no!

“How about a glass of Vermut?” (Yes.) ¡Por qué no!

“A gin tonic?” (Yes!) ¡Por qué no!

“More wine?” (YES!) ¡Por qué no!

By the end of the evening, our waiter was quoting ¡Por qué no! back to us in his best American/John Wayne accent.  And after having had just a little too much of everything, it's good to know that the Spanish word for "taxi" is…taxi.

Flash forward three years and several trips to Spain later (we enjoy boquerones on the regular now), it was clear that the concept for our Sherry Wine popup in San Francisco could only be named ¿Por qué no? (we changed to question marks to note something to contemplate vs. an exclamation.)

It was also at that time that we met Alex Russan, who had recently started Alexander Jules, a wine import company of personally selected sherry blends.  We kept in close contact and as the years went on, Alex grew his import business to include an incredible portfolio of under the radar Spanish wines.

In early 2019, Sean was determined to do more than the occasional Sherry popup and contemplated a wine import business of his own, so he went to Alex for advice on how to get started.  After a couple of days together and what must have been a few hundred questions, Alex and Sean concluded that they would mutually benefit by combining Alex’s great portfolio with Sean’s sales and business experience.  Sean spent the next year+ learning as much as he could about the business and made trips to Spain to meet these wonderful grower/producers himself.  He fell in love with the wines and the people making them even more.

So, when Alex asked if we wanted to take over in early 2020, we knew exactly what to say... ¡Por qué no!

Sean & Abby Norton, Propietarios

¿Por qué no? Selections