The importance of Importers?

I see in a lot of your TNs that you list the Importer. What role does the Importer play in the wine, and where do I find out who imported my wine?

Hi Maria - i'm formerly from jersey myself - but s. jersey.
the importer is in charge of getting the wine to this country in good condition. that means not sending it in a manner that will be warm. one importer even tells the temperature it was shipped at. if more than one importer carries a vineyard, then there may be different cuvees - and one may appear to be superior to the other. these are the two most obvious things i can think of. ps nice photo!

[Robin Garr]

I see in a lot of your TNs that you list the Importer. What role does the Importer play in the wine, and where do I find out who imported my wine?

Great question, Maria! First, the importer's name (and sometimes address, phone or Weblink) will be in small print somewhere on the bottle; typically on the back, occasionally at the bottom of the front label. I find importer info quite significant <i>when</i> the importer is either a particularly trusted name or a particularly unreliable name.

Here's an excerpt from a Wine Advisor article I wrote on this topic in May 2005:

<i> ... today let's talk about an important line on the wine label that's harder to find, as it's usually presented in microscopically small print, way down at the bottom of the front label or buried in a pile of technical data, legal warnings and other prose on the bottle's backside.

I'm talking about the line that identifies the importer, the hard-working individual or company that located the wine, negotiated a deal with the producer, and went through the legal red tape and paperwork required to bring it back to your country for distribution and sale. (Never a trivial task, this has become even more complicated for U.S. consumers in the post-9/11 era, when influential pressure groups have pushed for new regulations in the name of anti-terrorism that just happen to make it more difficult than ever for small overseas producers and importers to get their wines to consumers. But that's another story, for another day.)

Knowing where the wine came from, who made it, and what it's made of is all important information. But for me, if the wine is unfamiliar, then checking the importer's name will often sway the "buy" or "don't-buy" decision. Just like any merchant, an importer who's earned my trust will often make the sale on the basis of his name alone; one who's earned my disdain through lackluster product (or worse) will have a tough time roping me in for another try.

Let's wrap up today's sermon with a short, idiosyncratic list of U.S. importers who consistently make my "good guys" list. If their products are available to you, they deserve a second look. Listed alphabetically:

* Ex Cellars Wine Agencies Inc., Solvang, Cailf. (France)
* John Given, Manhasset, N.Y. (Italian wines)
* Kermit Lynch, Berkeley, Calif. (Mostly European, predominantly French)
* Kysela Pere & Fils, Winchester, Va. (European)
* Laurel Glen, Santa Rosa, Calif. (Argentina and Chile)
* Michael Skurnik Wines, Syosset, N.Y. (International; watch particularly for Terry Theise selections from Germany, Austria and Champagne)
* Palm Bay Imports, Boca Raton, Fla. (International, many French and Italian)
* Robert Whale Selections, Washington, D.C. (Australia)
* VIAS Imports Ltd., NYC (Italian)
* Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, Ala. (France, South Africa)
* Vintner Select, Cincinnati (International, many French and Italian)
* Weygandt-Metzler, Unionville, Pa. (European)
* William Grant & Sons, NYC (France, Port)
* Wines of France Inc., Mountainside, N.J. (France)

Please note that this list is only a sample, not an unabridged directory. I'm sure I've overlooked some favorites; moreover, not all of these companies are represented in every state, and - regretfully - these names will be of little or no use to our many readers in other countries.</i>

This article yielded such a bag full of (E)mail that I did a follow-up in the next issue:

<i> ... I did indeed receive the flood of comments that I had expected in the wake of Wednesday's personal gallery of importers whose wines have impressed me. Quite a few of you pointed out specific importers who really deserve attention, so here is a supplemental list featuring a few more good ones, listed alphabetically. If you're saving Wednesday's list for reference, I suggest you paste on this addendum.

* Empson (USA) Inc., Alexandria, Va. Italian wines.
* European Cellars Direct, NYC (Eric Solomon). Mostly small European producers.
* Jorge Ordoñez (Spain). Represented by various regional importers.
* Louis/Dressner, NYC. Mostly French, highly idiosyncratic, many organic or biodynamic. Small company, available only in limited markets.
* Old Bridge Cellars, Napa, Calif. Australian wines.
* Stacole Co., Boca Raton, Fla. Italian wines.
* Vin DiVino, Chicago. Italian wines.

And a few more with minor reservations, as noted:

* Frederick Wildman & Sons, NYC. European wines. Large importer, some mass-market labels, but Wildman's portfolio includes many winners.
* Grateful Palate, Oxnard, Calif. The name in Australian imports, but its overall profile seems geared toward highly Parker-rated blockbusters. Look for lower-end items from less familiar producers and regions and you can do very well.
* Hand Picked Selections, Warrenton, Va. Mostly artisanal producers, many from Southern France. A few very good (Chateau Lancyre and Chateau du Donjon from Languedoc and Domaine de Montagnette from the Rhone, for instance) but others seem like the leftovers after other importers finished harvested the low-hanging fruit.
* Robert Kacher, Washington, D.C. International, emphasis on France. Can rank with the best but requires cherry-picking, with some lackluster items at the lower end.
* Winebow Inc., NYC (Leonardo Locascio). Another large importer with a broad portfolio that includes some mass-market items, but Locascio's name on an Italian selection almost always makes it worth a look.</i>

Many people rely heavily on the importer, Maria. I'm sure you'll get lots of good recommendations for importers -- I have several favorites of my own.

There are two or three factors. One, perhaps the most important, is the taste of the importer. Joe Dressner of Louis/Dressner for example imports wines from smaller, traditional makers of wines. Louis/Dressner on the label invariably means a wine that is worth tasting.

[The importer's name and address must appear on the label under US law. Most importers maintain excellent websites describing their wines and winemakers.]

A second factor is how the importer handles the wine -- the Burgundy Wine Company ships only in refrigerated reefers, and moves the wine from the reefers to their warehouse very quickly upon arrival in the states.

A third factor is the honesty of the importer -- Kermit Lynch is an example of an importer who is very direct about the strengths and weaknesses of the various wines they handle.

I'll look forward to how this thread develops -- many people on this and other wine boards have distinct favorites. I've mentioned three of mine, but there are several others I hold in high regard.

Great question, as always.

Regards, Bob

With importers I have had prior positive experiences with, I would be more likely to try something new.

I am almost always willing to take a chance on the wine when I see these names on the back label:

Neal Rosenthal (Mad Rose Group), Kermit Lynch, Kysela, Louis/Dressner, Robert Chadderon, Terry Theise, and Becky Wasserman Selections.

Not all of these are importers, but the wines usually list their names on the back.

Best,
Marc

[James Roscoe]

Maria, you have asked one of the great questions in wine. Dig up Robin's full article and all the talk that followed plus the follow-up. It was excellent. I love most of the Kysela stuff. I'm also a big Bobby Kacher fan even if some of the low end stuff is a little pedestrian. If you are a Total Wine shopper then Alfio Marconi (sic?) is a name to look for as well.

I am sure this thread will get more responses. I wouldn't mind seeing Robin do a follow-up to the May 2005 article in the near future. It's an important topic for consumers. Are these importers still reliable? Are there new importers we shouild look for? Is Bob Parsons holding out on the rest of us? These and other questions are things the loyal WLDG readers want to know.

Thank you everyone for taking the time to answer my questions...as always, great info! I look forward to hearing more responses.

Robin, great article! I will do as James suggests and dig up the full article. Thank you for posting it and the list of importers.

I now have ANOTHER question...this might be obvious, but since I live in NJ, which importers service my area? Do the NYC importers sell their wines to retailers in NJ? When I go to wine stores by me in NJ, who would I most likely find? Bob, do you shop for wine in NJ or NYC? I probably won't get into NYC anytime soon to shop for wine, but my husband works there, so I can always have him purchase the wine. Also, what about buying on the internet...like the Wine Library?

ps nice photo!

Thanks David! *blushing* you're too kind.

Kermit Lynch is an example of an importer who is very direct about the strengths and weaknesses of the various wines they handle.

Really? You mean he is open when some of the wines are not that good. In the newsletters?

He may not be as Over the Top as NBI in their mailers, but I always got the sense that he was selling wine..

Or perhaps you mean other sorts of strengths and weaknesses? Good for fish, picnics, aging/young etc?

"Bob, do you shop for wine in NJ or NYC? I probably won't get into NYC anytime soon to shop for wine, but my husband works there, so I can always have him purchase the wine. Also, what about buying on the internet...like the Wine Library?"

Generally speaking, Maria, the same distributors cover both New York and New Jersey -- and you can get absolutely anything in NYC if you are willing to pay the price.

All New Jersey retailers have a big white book listing all the wines and distributors available or licensed in the state. You can ask the clerk to let you take a look at the book if you are hunting for particular distributors. But, an easier way is to search on Google for the website of the distributor you are interested in and ask them for retailers who handle their wines.

I shop by mail quite a bit -- almost all New York City and New Jersey retailers will ship to New Jersey consumers with absolutely no problems at all -- UPS is more reliable in my area, but even FedEx seems to have gotten the word that it's ok to deliver wine to humans.

I use Wine Shopper Pro to find retailers that handle wines that I read about here and would like to try; I also enjoy Matt Kramer's columns in the "Sun" and often buy from the stores he mentions.

My favorite retailers, both by mail and in person, included the following [I often stop by and pick up just to shoot the breeze and buy a bit more]:

http://www.beekmanwine.com/ in Glen Rock. Joel Mitchell, the owner, is very knowledgeable and he runs my idea of what a perfect local retailer should be.

http://www.chambersstwines.com/ in downtown Manattan. Great place to meet wine geeks, and excellent mail order service.

I stop by Wine Library from time to time -- that the only store that carries Victor's wines on a regular basis and I like following the wineries progress from afar. A very good stock, and a reliable by mail supplier. I think it's the closest big wine geeky store near Morristown, although I tend to look more to Manhattan than down your way.

There's a wine store on Route 78 about 15 miles west owned by a Master of Wine Chris Cree in Bernardsville. http://www.wineaccess.com/store/56degrees/ They have an excellent stock and Chris is great to talk to -- much closer to you than me, of course. If Chris were closer, it would be a horse race between Joel and Chris in my book.

But, I buy quite a bit of wine, and mail order between Manhattan or any New Jersey retailer is very reliable in my experience.

Irritates me that I can't buy by mail from any New Jersey winery, it does.

Regards, Bob

as far as i can tell, retailers in new jersey - esp. n. jersey - get most of the stuff new york city gets. by the way, the prices to both are often considerably lower than in the rest of the country. the major importers in the nyc area have been known to sell their products locally for the same price they sell to wholesalers in the rest of the country.

The importer first of all sees the wine through the shipping process from the country of origin to the USA, including arranging for payment of excise and import duties and compliance with federal label regulations. The importer thus plays a key role in making sure that the wine arrives on our shores intact and undamaged by heat or other aspects of poor handling. This is especially important in wine shipped to the US west coast, where the most economically feasible transport route involves going through the Panama Canal and exposing the wine to damaging excessive heat.

Some importers are very good about using temperature controlled containers. Others aren't.

Also, sometimes an importer can influence the winemaking process. Some producers are willing to allow an importer to select particular barrels to form the blend that gets bottled for import. Others will allow the importer to select the amount of new oak the wine sees, or how long it aged in cask before bottling. Or the amount of fining and filtration the wine undergoes. In these cases the importer's imprint ends up on the wine itself, and not just in how its handled during transport.

-Paul W.

Maria,

You ask mighty interesting questions . . . for some I'm learning right along with you, and others, like this one, I discovered the answers to only through slow trial-and-error. I started to note that wines I liked seemed to often come from the same importers . . . and so I started making note of them. I'm well behind the curve of the other responses, but Marc's list does a good job of capturing my favorites.

I always wondered, though, what the regulations are from state-to-state regarding importers. In the major cities where I've lived in the States, I've never had a problem finding most of the importers listed in this post. When I go back to visit Massachusetts, however (where the laws regulating alcohol maintain the spirit of the Salem witch trials), I don't see any of them--in fact, I doubt I see any labels from importers not based in Massachusetts. Makes my cheat sheet approach for finding a good bottle while there defunct.

Oh, and if anyone does know of a wine shop with a decent staff in the environs of Worcester, Massachusetts, don't be shy. You'll be making my future visits so much more pleasant!

"I always got the sense that he was selling wine.."

Fair comment, Rahsaan. I re-read some recent newsletters, and was surprised to see so much selling.

Went back to some of the earlier ones from ten years ago, when I started reading his newsletter. They were much more direct then -- I've not noticed the change -- so it must have been done gradually.

But, I must say, I have almost found his wines to be accurately described.

Thanks for catching me up, Rahsaan.

and you can get absolutely anything in NYC if you are willing to pay the price.

Yep. Absolutely anything. If you're willing to pay the price.

in fact, I doubt I see any labels from importers not based in Massachusetts.

I'm not sure where you shop when you are in MA, Keith, but I find wines from plenty of non-MA importers in shops here. Lynch, Weygandt, Dressner, Skurnik/Theise, Kysela, Winebow...
We need to get you out of Worcerster. I just checked one of my few Worcester-based purchases (from Austins), a 1997 Cave de Tain l'Hermitage Hermitage, imported via Maryland.

I now have ANOTHER question...this might be obvious, but since I live in NJ, which importers service my area? Do the NYC importers sell their wines to retailers in NJ?

In the USA's three-tier system, imported wine generally goes from importer to distributor to retailer. Often a single importer negotiates for exclusive USA rights to a producer's wine. That importer then sells to local distributors. So, the real question is which importers have distributors is your area.

However, it gets a little more complicated (or simpler depending on perspective) because many importers are also distributors for their local area. Thus many New York City-based importers will also control distribution in New York and New Jersey, and sell to distributors elsewhere.

Given the size of your market, I expect that all of the major importers based outside the NY-NJ area work with a distributor in your area. This can be less true in more rural areas where some importers have trouble finding distribution. Most large importers have websites that will tell you whether they have a distributor in your area and who that distributor is (useful if you're requesting something unusual from a responsive retailer).

Finally, with all of the mention of major national importers, don't overlook any local importers in your area. Just like importers can also be local distributors, a local distributor can also be an importer. However, those local distributors will never make a national list of "best importers" because they only serve a small area.

For example, here in Chicago I've been very pleased with Julienne Importing (French), Downunder Imports (Southern Hemisphere), and Maverick Wine Co. (mostly Europe but some others). Of course there are also a several local distributors who self-import lots of worthless wine (I won't mention any names here, but I suspect Chicago oenophiles could come up with a list very similar to my own).

I don't know if your area has any good small distributors who import. Since there is such a concentration of national importers, there may not be as many there as in Chicago. However, if you pay attention to the back label, you may discover some.

An importer that hasn't been mentioned so far is Fleet Street, which is the importing arm (at a legal remove, of course) of Moore Brothers. Moore Brothers has stores in Pennsauken, NJ; Wilmington, DE; and now they're on 20th St. in Manhattan. Greg Moore and his colleagues bring in stuff only for themselves (as far as I can tell), and they deal only with producers they have personal relationships with. Not only does everything ship in refrigerated containers (Greg has many stories about refrigeration), but the stores themselves are kept at 55 degrees.

Often a single importer negotiates for exclusive USA rights to a producer's wine.

Thank you Andrew...was my next question .

So, is it likely that all the bottles of say, Petrus sold in the US were imported by a single Importer?

Some other Q's:

How many importers are there...hundreds? Thousands? How do unreliable Importers stay in business? If the Importer and Distributer are the same, would you get a better deal on the wine? How do you find out who the Importer is for a wine in the internet/mail order?

Thank you all so much...I love how open I can be with my questions and you never make me feel stupid. That's the great thing about this website. I am learning so much!!

>So, is it likely that all the bottles of say, Petrus sold in the US were imported by a single Importer?

It depends a lot on the producer/wine region. Bordeaux tends to have a more involved distribution system than most other wine regions. Bordeaux estates tend to sell to French brokers, who then sell to the importers. Bordeaux futures are more or less a commodity. Exclusive importation of top Bordeaux estates is pretty rare, I belive.


>How many importers are there...hundreds? Thousands?

Probably in the hundreds. Used to be 20 or 30 in Massachusetts alone.

>How do unreliable Importers stay in business?

Because most consumers and retailers don't hold them responsible for the wine that they damage in transport.

>If the Importer and Distributer are the same, would you get a better deal on the wine?

Probably not. Most outfits will be wanting to grab the whole potential retail mark-up for themselves.

>How do you find out who the Importer is for a wine in the internet/mail order?

Ask the seller.

-Paul W.

Maria, you have asked one of the great questions in wine. Dig up Robin's full article and all the talk that followed plus the follow-up. It was excellent. I love most of the Kysela stuff. I'm also a big Bobby Kacher fan even if some of the low end stuff is a little pedestrian. If you are a Total Wine shopper then Alfio Marconi (sic?) is a name to look for as well.

I am sure this thread will get more responses. I wouldn't mind seeing Robin do a follow-up to the May 2005 article in the near future. It's an important topic for consumers. Are these importers still reliable? Are there new importers we shouild look for? Is Bob Parsons holding out on the rest of us? These and other questions are things the loyal WLDG readers want to know.

Bob Parsons here...hey what!! What have I gone and done now!!??

>If the Importer and Distributer are the same, would you get a better deal on the wine?

Probably not. Most outfits will be wanting to grab the whole potential retail mark-up for themselves.

I'd modify the "probably not" with an "it depends." For big importers, I agree with Paul, they take the full (or close to full) markup. In part, this is for the same reasons that direct winery sales usually take the full markup. First, because they can. Second, because who would want to distribute a wine at inflated prices when customers could compare prices and find they could get it cheaper directly?

On the other hand, when a company is primarly a distributor that does some of their own importing, there can be a savings. These tend to be smaller organizations (could even be one main person with a small support staff or contract deliverypeople) that are looking for any competitive advantage they can get over the big companies, in this case price. They also don't have to worry about having others distribute their wine and keeping them happy.

How do unreliable Importers stay in business?

Because most consumers don't know any better. Only a small minority of people who buy wine pay any attention to the importer.

Also, popularity and quality do not always go together. That's why [yellowtail] is the most popular brand in America. However, retailers will carry what consumers will buy, even if no one who works in the store would actually drink those wines.

As it applies to importers, I can think of a certain Chicago-area importer & distributor who makes a lot of money on a certain line of cheap, low quality wines. They are popular with consumers who have a sweet tooth; thus, the importer makes money. Furthermore, this distributor can use the need to carry that low-quality line as a pressure point to induce retailers to carry other wines of theirs.

[James Roscoe]

Bob Parsons here...hey what!! What have I gone and done now!!??

The usual, holding onto the names of new, reliable importers so you can hog all the good stuff in the distribution line.

I was just tyring to get your attention really.

There is a fairly recent phenomenon occuring at various points around the country that I call the small importer/small distributor hookup. We don't have it here in New Hampsphire as we have a communist distribution system. But we did have it in Maine and loved it.

Typically some guy or gal with some change in their pockets go overseas to the region(s) they are interested in and establish a relationship with small producers. With license in hand they contact small distributors in their area who in turn sell to independent retailers. Sometimes these distributors have networks with similar sorts in other parts of the country and these also start getting wine from the importer. We have enjoyed many great wines at fantastic prices from these arrangements.

Don't know if you have such an arrangement in New Jersey, but if you wander into an independent retailer and see boxes of interesting wines lying around, with importers names on them you have never heard of, you may have hit paydirt.