Sally and Dick Benjamin, co-owners of Wine World in North Augusta, are considered modern-day pioneers -- wine pioneers, that is.

Thirty-five years ago, a good bottle of wine was hard to find in the area, and the Benjamins -- one of four couples who founded the store -- had a vision to bring the experience of good wine to their community. Through wine tastings and large customer orders, their hobby soon became a business, and today, Wine World serves many faithful customers in Georgia and South Carolina.

Mr. Benjamin, a retired nuclear physicist at Savannah River Site, joined forces with fellow co-workers and their wives to start Wine World. The unlikely entrepreneurs -- two physicists, a chemist and an electronics expert -- relied on their passion for wine to keep the business alive.

"We had gotten quite used to drinking wine that was good and inexpensive," said Mr. Benjamin, who worked in Switzerland for several years. "We couldn't afford the expensive stuff."

His wife added: "Wine was not available in grocery stores. Now there are a lot more outlets."

The Georgia Avenue store takes its customers on an international journey, offering a glimpse into wine cultures of places such as Patagonia (at the tip of South America), Romania, Armenia, France and Australia. On the American side, there are California, Oregon and Washington state.

Bottles of wine costing up to $350 line the walls of the store. Cheeses are available from England, Germany, Holland, Denmark and Spain, and the beer selections span the globe.

Many customers commend Wine World's selection, personalized service and reasonable prices. The store's wine tastings and courses are popular attractions, and some consider the owners to be close friends.

"I have been buying wine at Wine World since there's been a Wine World," said Augusta lawyer John Bell. "Both of them know their wines really well, and they care about getting interesting, different things. They've got more variety than anybody else."

The owners supplied wine at his daughter's wedding and helped him to find a relatively inexpensive Chardonnay. Mr. Bell said he frequently seeks the owners' expertise.

"That's where I do all of my wine shopping," said Kathryn Warr, of Augusta, a customer for seven years. She has recommended the store to friends, and she praises the store's selection of cheeses and wine glasses.

Debbie Layman, of North Augusta, has been a customer for more than 20 years. She respects the owners as wine experts and friends.

"Sally and Dick are not only good business people, but they're wonderful people to know. They're a fabulous couple," she said.

A nose for wine

Wine World's majority owners, the Benjamins grew up in Dallas and met through mutual friends during their college years. They wed in 1961 and established their home in Austin, where Mr. Benjamin was pursuing a doctoral degree in physics at the University of Texas.

During the program, he worked at Texas Nuclear Corp., where he completed nuclear research. He had the chance to work on a Van de Graaff accelerator, which provided an opportunity to work in Zurich, Switzerland, after his graduation in 1965.

The overseas experience allowed the young couple to taste wines from many European countries and steered them toward their passion for wine.

The couple lived in Zurich for three years before moving to Augusta in 1968, when Mr. Benjamin was offered an engineering job at SRS. He was a nuclear engineer by day and a wine connoisseur by night.

"When we moved here, there was a very limited wine selection," Mrs. Benjamin said.

While working at SRS, Mr. Benjamin met three men who would become his business partners: Charlie Ahlfeld, Vern Fernandez and Mal Goosey.

Sonny Goldson worked at SRS with Mr. Fernandez.

"When they went on business trips, they would always look for a restaurant that served fine wines," said Mr. Goldson, now a longtime customer. "Or if we were lucky enough to have a vineyard nearby, they'd always visit."

Mr. Benjamin was able to make his dream a reality when he attended an American Physical Society conference in Washington, D.C. He visited a popular wine shop and purchased a vast array of wines.

"We brought back some wines that we thought would be good, and we had a tasting," he said. They also made arrangements to place orders.

The couple held dinners for people who enjoy wine and told them the purpose of the event was to place orders, which was legal at the time, Mrs. Benjamin said.

After six or eight months, the orders continued to grow, and the Benjamins decided to turn their passion into a business.

The founding fathers

The Benjamins and three other couples started Wine World in August 1972.

"We got all these people together who didn't know anything about business," Mr. Benjamin said.

Initially, the shop was open for limited hours Monday through Friday, from 5 to 8 p.m., and all day on Saturday.

"We didn't have a paid employee and didn't make a dime," Mr. Fernandez said.

Operating the business with partners was a challenge, Mr. Benjamin said.

"You don't always get along," he said. "We were equal partners, and we learned fairly soon not ever to do that again. We discovered that equal partners means that you can have a stalemate."

The group sometimes came to deadlocks during voting because they couldn't outvote the opposing side.

Mr. Fernandez was a partner for six years before parting amicably because of family obligations.

"It was a great experience, and I'm glad that I was involved. I'm pleased that Dick and Sally are friends," he said.

Other partners joined the business throughout the years, including Chuck and Molly Ashley, Richard Hatcher and Jay Taylor. Partners would come and go for various reasons, Mrs. Benjamin said, such as wanting more time for travel.

Today, the Benjamins' only partner in the venture is Leigh Dye, whose father, John, acquired shares in the company from Mr. Taylor.

Wine World opened in a brick building at 106 Georgia Ave. It expanded into adjacent storefronts as the business grew.

In 2004, the store moved to its current location at 133 Georgia Ave., upstairs from the Highlander pub. Many years ago the building was occupied by The Heidelberg House, a German restaurant, and a popular bar called The Rathskeller.

"Many of the youngsters in Augusta and North Augusta had their first beers there," Mr. Benjamin said.

Back then, the legal drinking age in South Carolina was 18, but in Georgia it was 21. Mr. Dye said an 80-year-old customer once told him that he had his first drink in the basement bar.

The second generation

Mr. Dye's interest in wine was sparked when his parents became partners in Wine World in 1983.

Mr. Dye, 51, began helping at the store after work during the busy seasons and became a full-time worker after taking over his family's shares after the death of his parents.

Born in Oxford, England, Mr. Dye spent many weekends with his family traveling across the European countryside. He lived in England and Germany for most of his upbringing.

His father, John Dye, was in the U.S. Army. While in England, the elder Mr. Dye and his friend, Chuck Ashley, a member of the U.S. Air Force, met two young women from Britain. The pairs became inseparable, and John and Shena Dye and Chuck and Molly Ashley later wed.

Both couples eventually moved to North Augusta and became partners at Wine World.

"My mother had a movie star look," Mr. Dye said.

She was a hairstyle model in the 1940s and was pictured in magazines. He says his mother was "very English" and "a very proper lady."

Mr. Dye's mother and father moved to North Augusta in 1968. He attended North Augusta High School and went on to graduate with a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of South Carolina.

Mr. Dye, who now lives in Columbia with his wife, Susan, took an early retirement from Lucent Technologies in 2002.

A taster's philosophy

The owners of Wine World taste all wines before deciding to sell them in their store.

"We kiss a lot of frogs," Mrs. Benjamin said. "We may seek out certain wines that we read about or have tasted at a competition or trade show."

The store's owners have expanded their knowledge through research, reading relevant publications and judging competitions.

Education has always been fundamental at the store, Mrs. Benjamin said. Wine World offers classes and monthly wine tastings, which are extremely popular among customers.

Many customers say the friendly, but not pushy, assistance they receive while shopping keeps them coming back.

"That's a core part of what we do," Mrs. Benjamin said.

"People who work in the shop are expected to taste wines and enjoy wines and pass their knowledge on," Mr. Dye said. The four-person staff also has a passion for beer and cheeses.

Longtime customer Jan Menger admits that she was a bit intimidated by a wine-tasting course.

"Sally alleviated my fears. She said, 'You know the difference between green beans and broccoli, don't you? They're both green vegetables,' " Ms. Menger said.

Ms. Benjamin told her that a person learns the differences between wines through "taste memory."

Mr. Dye has found that people's tastes evolve. Customers often start out preferring sweet wines, and over the years gradually enjoy drier wines.

The owners keep detailed notes from tastings when distributors come to the store. At trade shows, it's possible to taste 50-200 wines in several hours.

"Doing a really good job at a trade show is tough," Mrs. Benjamin said. "You have to really concentrate."

"You get palate fatigue," Mr. Dye added.

Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin are members of the Tasters Guild, a national wine appreciation society, and the American Wine Society.

For years, they have served as judges in national competitions such as Tasters Guild and American Wine Society, and the Atlanta Wine Summit and Virginia Governor's Cup.

"They are well-respected judges," Mr. Dye said.

Mr. and Ms. Benjamin are also frequently asked to lead training seminars.

Mr. Dye has also served as a Tasters Guild judge.

Wine World expanded its beer selection last year when South Carolina changed its law to allow the sale of beers with an alcohol content as high as 14 percent.

"When they passed that law, it also opened up a lot of breweries," Mr. Dye said. Before the change, many breweries were unwilling to come to South Carolina because they couldn't bring their whole product line, he said.

The owners said they look forward to serving their community for years to come and further expanding their knowledge of wines.

"There's infinite variety, and there's always more to learn," Mrs. Benjamin said.

Reach LaTina Emerson at (706) 823-3227 or latina.emerson@augustachronicle.com.