When life serves you lousy Champagne, make your own bubbly is Frank Schilling’s philosophy. When sampling sparkling wines to serve at his Cayman Islands restaurant, Mykonos, Schilling wasn’t satisfied with anything on the market. So, he made his own. The sparkling rosé, called Aphrodise, is made from the Xinomavro grape grown in northern Greece and Macedonia.
A noble, popular wine grape in that region of the world, Xinomavro is rarely used in sparkling wines; Aphrodise is the first bubbly version to be produced on a large scale. Characterized by tiny bubbles, they’ve found that people who usually dislike rosé or Champagne enjoy Aphrodise. “It’s imminently drinkable,” says Schilling. “You can guzzle it and feel great as you’re drinking, and you feel pretty darn good after.”
A serial entrepreneur, Schilling has hardly had a linear career path. After making a fortune in domain names early in the Internet age, he became a restaurateur on a whim and now a vintner. “I always say we’re the Forrest Gump of the Champagne business because we’re bumbling into everything we do,” he said, laughing.
THE START OF SOMETHING GOOD
While building out his restaurant Mykonos, a large 320-seat venue on Grand Cayman’s Seven Mile Beach, during the height of the pandemic, Schilling realized that it would be a struggle to find a single source of sparkling wine to supply all those mimosas at brunch. When they finally did find a source, it was expensive and of poor quality.
They began tasting different varietals and stumbled onto the dark red Xinomavro grape and found that some vintners had started experimenting with a blonder version perfect for sparkling wine. They tweaked it and found it was a bit sweet. Finally, they produced what is now Aphrodise.
Most importantly, people liked it. “We started to share it, and people liked it,” Schilling said. “And that’s how we kind of bumbled into the business.” He sent ninety bottles to friends for a birthday party in Ibiza; the recipients insisted they’d never use more than ten bottles. “These grown men in their 40s and 50s started drinking this stuff, and in a day and a half, it was all gone, and we knew we had a winner. It’s a true story.”
Next, Schilling debuted the wine at a Las Vegas wedding trade show to introduce the product. People lined up, one hundred deep, all day long for samples.
A well-known wedding planner with a booth nearby invited the Aphrodise team to work with them, and they’ve now signed a partnership deal.
A GIANT GLASS BOX
He also never expected to own a restaurant. During COVID and his daily walks, he noticed a vacant building that drew his attention. He thought it was perfect for a restaurant—in fact, the pandemic had scuttled a dining spot already in the works there, and the building was available. So, Schilling bought it with some neighboring properties and cobbled it into a “giant glass box” along the main drag.
He named it Mykonos because of his experiences there, places that are convivial and celebratory but enjoyed by local families as well as tourists. “I wanted to create a venue that was a destination and a gathering place. And we did. We built something very residential, truly beautiful.” The Finishes are sophisticated, and the space can accommodate a large crowd, which is not that common in the Cayman Islands.
SIGHTS ON MALIBU?
Schilling has started many different businesses over the years. “I’ve tried lots of things. Not everything worked, but many things did,” he said. Among his many business interests is a 120-acre parcel of land in Malibu that he intends to sell via auction.
“I bought it years ago, and I’m not doing anything with it,” Schilling explained. It’s along the stretch of Pacific Coast Highway over Encinal Bluffs. “It’s a beautiful land, but out of all the projects I want to do, building the ‘Iron Man’ house in California is not one of them anymore. I’m East Coast-centric now.”
For more information on Aphrodise and Frank Schilling,
visit drinkaphrodise.com