The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
French ‘good ol’ boy’ brought love of wine to Atlanta
Growing up in southwestern France, Yves Durand attended grade school where children were served diluted wine between lessons or with lunch.
France abolished the practice in 1981. Nevertheless, for Durand it started a lifelong obsession with the grape, or actually 10,000 grapes, for that’s about how many varieties exist.
One of his protégées Gil Kulers, now the head sommelier and beverage manager at the Piedmont Driving Club said recently, “I wouldn’t be surprised if Yves knew all of them.”
When Durand and his wife Inge moved to Atlanta in the mid-1960s, the city was a wasteland for gourmets and oenophiles alike. The couple opened one of Atlanta’s early French restaurants, Rue de Paris, and Inge recalled recently, “In those days the first thing people asked for was a cocktail and coffee. Together! They didn’t know how to drink. They didn’t know how to drink wine, except Blue Nun (then a pervasive and populist German wine).”
The feisty and imperious young Durand prefaced his early Rue de Paris wine list with, “cou rouge, (rough translation, “red neck”) don’t go any further.”
But he warmed up to his adopted hometown in 1985, when he beat 14 competitors for Best Sommelier in French wines in the United States. After Julia Child gave him the award, he told a reporter, “I am really glad to win this for Atlanta, because I know what top quality restaurants we have ... I enjoyed telling all those people in New York that I am just a good ol’ boy from Atlanta.”
Albeit one who transformed the epicurean landscape.
“They called him the godfather of wine in Atlanta,” Kulers said. “He made folks really want better wine. Before Yves there were no quality wines coming into the state of Georgia. But I’d say Atlanta right now is one of the top five U.S. wine markets.”
Jean-Pierre Yves Durand, 79, died Sunday in his Roswell home from liver failure. Visitation is 10 a.m. to noon today. The funeral will be in the Chapel of Roswell Funeral Home, 950 Mansell Road, Roswell. A graveside service follows at Green Lawn Cemetery & Mausoleum, also 950 Mansell Road Roswell.
He was born in 1939 in the Bourg-de-Visa, a village in the Gascony region and grew up in Vichy. He spent the war years in the countryside where his grandfather made his own wine.
When he was hitchhiking through Europe at 19, he spotted 16-year-old Inge in Copenhagen. He told her he was looking for The Little Mermaid, the famous bronze statue.
“I was dragging my bicycle around,” she said. “At the time he didn’t speak Danish and I didn’t speak French, so we struggled with our English. I told him I could take him to the Mermaid. What can I say? He was handsome.”
They married in 1960, but initially had a trans-European relationship, with Inge in Copenhagen and Yves working as a waiter in Stockholm. Later they immigrated to Montreal, but despite the dazzling restaurants and French culture Inge said, “One winter was enough.” In 1965 they came to Atlanta and Yves was hired as a waiter at the Chateau Fleur de Lis, perhaps the city’s first French restaurant.
That was long before Atlanta became The ATL, where the closest to fine dining was the Coach and Six and the Switzerland House, both on Peachtree Road. In 1967, the Hyatt Regency opened and Yves became manager of Club Atlantis on the ground floor. Five years later he and Inge opened the first Rue de Paris in a then-thriving Underground Atlanta.
In 1974 they opened the second Rue de Paris in Buckhead. Yves was the front man, or as Inge said, “He was the one who knew everybody and kissed the hands of all the ladies.”
In 1981, he hired a 19-yearold waiter named Michael McNeill, who recalls those days as “a very flashy time in (Atlanta) restaurants.
“(At Rue de Paris) you had the classic dishes,” he said, “where you carved a rack of lamb at the table, and frenched the vegetables (cut into thin slivers). The dinner would last two hours. They had a little bar, no TV in sight. Customers were dressed to the hilt and the waiters wore tuxedoes. It was like Atlanta’s Downton Abbey.”
But in 1983 Yves had the first of five hip replacement surgeries and could no longer take days on his feet in the restaurant. He and Inge sold the name Rue de Paris, and he launched a second career.
In 1987, he published “Connoisseur’s Guide to Bordeaux Wines,” based on 30 years worth of his tasting notes.
He won best sommelier in French wines in the United States in 1985 in 1986 and, representing the U.S., he placed third in the Paris International Sommelier Competition. In the mid1990s he also won an Emmy for achievement and excellence for his Georgia public television program “Wining & Dining With Yves Durand,” that ran for six episodes over two years.
All the while he was training and mentoring many young sommeliers, with several becoming masters.
He was renowned for tastings held in the cellar of his Roswell home, eight per year and always in winter. The Durands also served pate, cheese, salami, French bread, turkey and, as Inge added, “always the quiche.”
Beginning in the late 1980s Yves began leading overseas tours of vineyards and chateaux, usually to Southern France, but also to Spain and Italy, with four tastings daily at different chateaux.
Real estate attorney and friend Richard Smith, who went on nearly every one, remembers a visit to Giverny, France, the hometown of impressionist painter Claude Monet. It was there that the local sommelier challenged Yves to a blind tasting, a demanding exercise where memory, logic, art, along with the palate, play intricate roles.
“To watch him taste is something, to see him work it around in his mouth,” Smith said. “He believed you could taste it once, or twice, but never three times. Same with the nose. Then he’d start to answer the individual questions, narrowing them down to smaller and smaller circles.
“In this particular time,” Smith said, “Yves got the producer right, the country, the region, the grapes— he got everything right, right down to the chateau. Except for one thing, he got the year wrong, and I think he only missed by one.”
He is survived by his wife Inge, his son Thomas (Robin), daughter Tanya (Darren), his two sisters in France, Nicole and Isabelle, plus five grandchildren and great grandchildren.
ADAMS, Stephen Randolph
Age 70, of Tucker, passed away Jan. 10, 2019. Visitation Jan. 18, 10:30-12:00 p.m., Wages & Sons Funeral Home Gwinnett Chapel, Lawrenceville, GA.
ARMSTRONG, Emma
Homegoing celebration for Mrs. Emma Harris Armstrong will be held Friday, January 18, 2019 at 12:00 p.m. at Mt. Olive Baptist Church, 469 Mt. Olive Rd., Stockbridge, Rev. Dr. Terrance J. Gattis, pastor. Interment at Mt. Olive Church Cemetery. Her remains will lie in state at the church from 11:00 a.m. until the hour of service. For 102 years she was blessed with many loving family members and friends. She leaves to cherish her memory, a son, John Robert “Bob” Harris (Audrey); 5 grandchildren; 12 great grandchildren; sister, Mrs. Vera L. Watson; sister-in-law, Mrs. Eddie C. Harris; caregivers, Katheryn Lemon (George); and a great host of nieces, nephews, cousins, other relatives and friends. The viewing will be held today from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., chapel of W.D. Lemon & Sons Funeral Home, 300 Griffin St., McDonough, (770) 957-4337,
www.wdlemonfuneralhome.com
BANKS, Susie J.
Mrs. Susie J. Banks of Atlanta passed January 15, 2019. Celebration of Life Service will be Saturday, January 19th, 11 a.m. at St. John Missionary Baptist Church, 52 Fairburn Rd S.W. Survivors are husband, Mr. Levi Banks; daughter, Lisa Banks; son, Larry Miquel Banks; sisters and brothers, a host of other relatives and friends. Herschel Thornton Mortuary 3346 M.L. King Jr. Dr. (404) 691-4685 www.thorntonmortuary.com.
BARBEE, III, James H.
Age 75, of Lawrenceville, passed away Jan. 12, 2019. Services Jan. 18, 11:00 AM at Salem Missionary Baptist Church, Lilburn, GA. Gregory B. Levett & Sons Funeral Home, Inc, Lawrenceville, GA
BLACK, Sandra Lynn
Age 67, of Marietta, passed away Jan. 10, 2019. Services Jan. 22, 2:00 PM at Georgia Memorial Park, Marietta, GA. Georgia Funeral Care & Cremation Services, Acworth, GA.
BRANDENBURG (Barber) Cheryl Marie
Age 61, of Senoia, passed away Jan. 15, 2019. Services Jan. 19, 2:00 PM at Carl J. Mowell & Son Chapel, Peachtree City, GA.
BROWN (Fleming), Cupid Willa
Age 93, of Dallas, passed away Jan. 16, 2019. Visitation Jan. 19, 1-2 p.m. at Jeff Eberhart Funeral Home, Dallas, GA.
BRYANT, Eric Wayne
Mr. Eric Wayne Bryant, age 64 of Powder Springs, passed on January 11, 2019. Those remaining to cherish his memories are his mother, wife, three children, thirteen grandchildren, two great grandchildren, two sisters, sister- in-law, brother and a host of relatives and friends. Homegoing service will be held Friday, January 18, 2019 at 11:00 am from Center Hill Missionary Baptist Church (Atlanta). Viewing will be from 10:00 am until start of service. Interment: Monday, January 21st, GA National Cemetery (Canton). Hanley-Shelton Funeral Directors, 770) 428-6333.
CARRAWAY, Morrie Anthony
Mr. Morrie Anthony Carraway of Hampton, Ga. passed on January 13, 2019. His services will be announced by GUS THORNHILL’S FUNERAL HOME, INC. 404-768-2993.
CHITWOOD, John
Age 89, of Forest Park, passed away Jan. 13, 2019. Service Jan. 18, Stocks Funeral Home chapel. Stocks Funeral Home Kirkwood Chapel, Inc, Atlanta, GA.
CLEMONS, Sr., Edward J.
Homegoing service for Mr. Edward J. Clemons, Sr. will be held Saturday, January 19, 2019 at 1:00 p.m. at Andrews Chapel United Methodist Church, 122 Watterson St., Jonesboro, Rev. Donald Reed, pastor. His remains will lie in state at the church from 11:00 a.m. until the hour of service. He is survived by his wife, Mrs. Ellawease Clemons; children, grandchildren, siblings, nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends. W.D. Lemon & Sons Funeral Home, 300 Griffin St., McDonough, (770) 957-4337,
www.wdlemonfuneralhome.com
CONLEY, Horace
Celebration of Life for Mr. Horace Conley will be held Friday, January 18, 2018, 11AM at Gus Thornhill’s Chapel, East Point, Ga. Family will receive friends TONIGHT from 7-8 PM. GUS THORNHILL’S FUNERAL HOME, INC. 404-768-2993.
COOPER, Peggy
Age 84, of Dallas, passed away Jan. 15, 2019. Service Jan. 19, 1 PM at Benson Funeral Home, Dallas, GA.
DAVIS (Cantrell), Barbara
Age 83, of Marietta, passed away Jan. 14, 2019. Services Jan. 19, 10:00 AM at Janquil Chapel. Castellaw Funeral Home and Cremation Services, Smyrna, GA.
DEAKINS, Lillian Roberts
Lillian Roberts Deakins, Lillian
Wyant, Lillian Timberlake
Lillian Roberts Deakins, 97, passed away in her sleep on
January 9, 2019. She died in her home, where she lived for
60 years. Born in Atlanta, GA on October 5, 1921, to John
Hughes Roberts and Lillian
Mitchell Roberts, she was a fifth generation Atlantan and the first cousin of Margaret
Mitchell, author of Gone with the Wind. When she was 7 months old, she moved to Ansley Park with her parents and her brother, John Hughes Roberts, Jr. She attended Spring Street School, Washington Seminary, Sweet Briar College, and was graduated from Agnes Scott College in 1943. She worked for Eastern Airlines until she married David Miller Deakins in 1945. After briefly living in Los Angeles, CA and Raleigh, NC, they returned to Ansley Park to raise their daughters in the city they loved. They were married until his death in 1989. She was a lifelong member of Atlanta First United Methodist Church. An active volunteer in the Atlanta community, she served as a Board Member of the Junior League of Atlanta, President of the Salvation Army Ladies Auxiliary, and Trustee of both the Historic Oakland Foundation and the Margaret Mitchell House. She was a member of the Piedmont Driving Club and the Ansley Golf Club. One of her most cherished activities was having lunch with the Friday Ladies, a group of friends who began meeting for lunch every month 72 years ago. Lillian was one of the last remaining members of this beloved group. In 1997, she married John Roland Wyant; they were married until his death in 2010. She married Dr. Lloyd Timberlake in 2012, and they were married until his death in 2017.
She is survived by her daughters, Lillian Deakins Clarke and Dorothy Deakins Chandler (Franklin); grandchildren Dorothy Clarke MacDiarmid, Lillian IV Mitchell, and David Miller Deakins Chandler (Christen); great grandchildren Ian, Will, and Clare MacDiarmid, Bryson, Miller, Crawford, Merritt, and Mary Lillian LePree, and Deakin Chandler; and the Wyant and Timberlake families.
The family will receive guests on Sunday, January 20, 2019, at 1 PM at H.M. Patterson & Son, Spring Hill. A memorial service will begin at 2 PM, with a reception following. A private interment will take place at Oakland Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Historic Oakland Foundation, 248 Oakland Avenue SE, Atlanta, GA 30312; CASA Glynn, PO Box 145, Brunswick, GA 31521; or Midtown Assistance Center, 30 Porter Place, Atlanta, GA 30308.
EDWARDS, Thomas
Age 67, of Atlanta, passed away Jan. 9, 2019. Service Jan. 19, 12 p.m., Stocks Funeral Home chapel. Stocks Funeral Home Kirkwood Chapel, Inc., Atlanta, GA.
ELSEA, Sondra
Age 71, of Buford, passed away Jan. 15, 2019. Services Jan. 18, 1:00 PM at White Chapel Memorial Gardens, Duluth, GA. Flanigan Funeral Home and Crematory, Buford, GA.
FISHER, Mary
Age 77, of Marietta, passed away Jan. 14, 2019. Services Jan. 19, 2:00 PM at the Carmichael Funeral Home Chapel. Carmichael Funeral Home, Smyrna, GA.
FOWLER, Tressa
Mrs. Tressa Fowler, of Atlanta, passed away Friday, January 11, 2019. Funeral services are pending. Donald Trimble Mortuary, Inc., announcing.
GREEN, Kenneth
Homegoing service for Mr. Kenneth Green will be held Friday, January 18, 2019 at 11:00 a.m. at Zion Grove Baptist Church, 2519 Old Toney Rd., Ellenwood, Rev. James H. Miller, pastor. Interment at Kennedy Memorial Gardens. His remains will lie in state at the church from 10:00 a.m. until the hour of service. He is survived by his mother, Mrs. Patricia Green and a host of aunts, uncles, cousins, other relatives and friends. The viewing will be held today from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., chapel of W.D. Lemon & Sons Funeral Home, 2090 Joylake Rd., Morrow, (404) 361-4284, www.wdlemonfuneralhome.com.