Stand by Your Brands | Wine-Searcher News & Features

The job of a wine importer seems pretty perfect: visiting beautiful regions, tasting with talented producers, and having your choice amongst the best wines in the world with which to work. However, there’s a whole lot of hard conversations to be had along the way, and we’re not just talking tariffs and transport.

Finding new growers to work with is obviously exciting, but dialing into the nitty gritty of lineup specifics isn’t as simple as it seems. For most importers, the question of whether to work with an entire range of wines is a tricky one – and if the answer is not to, what is the winemaker to do with the random stragglers? Even worse, what happens when a tried and true producer runs into a battle with VA, a bout of brettanomyces, or an environmental hardship that tarnishes the majority of a vintage?

At the end of the day, for most small importers (and winemakers, too), money talks, and taking chances on even just a few wines that don’t fit into a portfolio can mean sitting on a lot of stock – yet to truly support a producer’s efforts, is it necessary to accept an entire lineup of wines, especially during bad years? We thought we’d ask.

First decisions

Patrick Mata, owner of Ole & Obrigado Imports, believes that showing a full lineup of wines is the best way to tell a producer’s full story. However, he understands the reality of his business’s needs. “We take the cuvées that we think can sell best and try to accommodate the needs of the producers,” he says. For example, Mata is launching a wine club to promote smaller-production wines from his producers that the trade may find challenging to promote.

Brooklyn-based Zev Rovine has a similar approach. “Personally, I don’t work with a winery unless I like the huge majority of their wines,” he says. “I’m looking for someone’s production, never just a single wine.” Rovine reveals that his company, Zev Rovine Selections, takes at least 80 percent of a winery’s cuvées when they decide to bring them on. “This is the type of partnership that we are normally looking for.”

Ted Vance, co-owner of The Source Imports, finds that being selective with wines over committing to a near full lineup defines a merchant from an importer; that’s to say, merchants will only work with what they think the market wants, as well as what would potentially be easy to sell. “Wine merchants don’t necessarily create markets or influence taste, but rather follow the trends,” he says. “Our view of importing is that we represent people and their work, not only a few wines in their range.” For Vance, this ideally includes most, if not all, of a producer’s wines, though he realizes that there are always exceptions. (For him, this may mean choosing to work with a Chianti Classico producer’s Sangiovese-based wines as an importer of classic wines, but not their experimental Cabernet– or Merlot-based bottles.) 

Vance finds that, as a national importer, there is an expectation to represent a producer’s entire range. “Each year, the selection can change, but it’s rare that I would not buy the same wines,” he says, emphasizing the importance for importers’ to make regular visits with their winemakers, as annual visits/tastings allow both parties to discuss changes, experiments, and challenges faced during the previous year.

Potential solutions

On the contrary, for some importers, taking on a winery’s full lineup comes with time. “We don’t necessarily take the entire range of wines at the beginning of our [relationship], but often add [them] over time,” explains Xavier Flouret, owner and founder of Cognac One. “We normally add more wines or cuvées along the years of our partnership, yet, we remain thorough and logical with our mission – that’s why we only represent domaines that are not mass-production oriented,” he says.

So what’s a producer to do, should their importer not wish to take on every wine in the portfolio? For Flouret, this means giving his winemakers the chance to sell their wines in other states, outside of Cognac One’s distribution territory. “The more a vineyard and its wines are featured and distributed in other states, the better it is for the recognition and image of the [brand], so long as homogeneity and cohesion are preserved and guaranteed,” he says.

For Vance, it’s a little trickier. “It’s hard to argue with producers if they want to sell certain wines in our market that we don’t want to import,” he says. However, Vance confirms that he always asks for exclusivity in each market that he works. Similarly, Mata is producer-exclusive with the wines he brings in, which are distributed across all 50 states. As an alternative solution, Vance recommends the creation of a separate label, should this help a producer’s needs be met. “Most producers respect their [importer] relationships and find solutions for those wines in other markets,” he explains. “After all, not every market has the same expectations.”

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| Regular contact and tastings with producers is essential for importers.

The cons

So what happens when a particular vintage from a trusted producer falls short? Needless to say, it’s complicated. “As an importer, I feel compelled to protect our producers, even if it’s from themselves,” says Vance, revealing that conversations about mistakes can lead to breakups, should they not be executed carefully.

Vance ponders the history of  many classic French domaines. “Think about all the [major] importers who seem to have had just about every historic producer at one point or another and had a breakup along the way. It probably happened during these kinds of conversations, if it wasn’t about money.” He explains that if he chooses not to buy a wine in a particular year (or go lighter in a vintage that he feels missed the mark), he feels compelled to gently explain his reasoning. “However, if a whole range is unexpectedly affected by something and it’s not typical of the winery style, I can’t say that I would accept the vintage,” he admits.

Although an added step, Mata reveals that his company has a laboratory in Spain, and that all wines are required to be analyzed and deemed stable prior to importation. “If for some reason one specific wine does not pass our lab test, then we don’t import it. This helps our producers and our trade partners.” Mata adds that importing wines in refrigerated containers also helps ensure that the bottles arrive in perfect condition.

Rovine explains that dealing with unusual flaws are considered in tandem with his history with the domaine. “Is this an unusual situation, or is this the way the wines generally are? We take just about all [of a producer’s] wines every year, because that’s the way winemaking is,” he explains, noting that when choosing to work with careful and meticulous producers, running into a situation where an entire vintage is in bad shape is extremely rare.

Vance notes that it’s also important to take oneself into consideration that good wines can show strangely during certain moments of their evolution, too. “Wine is tricky, and nuances of reductive elements and brett can sometimes be confused, even by the best tasters,” he says. Supporting Mata’s action, Vance agrees that the truest test for catching flaws is not found in anyone’s palate, but in a lab.

The pros

While seemingly risky, there are of course benefits to working with a winery’s entire range of wines. Rovine explains that it gives winemakers space to be creative, in that they know they’ll have a client for whatever they decide to experiment with. “It hopefully gives some security to a work that is full of risk,” he says. For Mata, it’s about telling a complete story. “As an importer, we want to tell the full story of our producers and represent as many wines as we think we can do a good job with,” he says, noting that having the entire lineup helps.

Rovine agrees. “Having a full lineup tells a more full story of the domaine. One wine can’t really do that as well,” he says, admitting that at times it can be tough when there is a random cuvée or a pricing issue, but generally, these problems are temporary.

And for others, it’s simply a matter of partaking in a winemaker’s growth and evolution. “Perhaps the greatest advantage for all of us is that we get to follow the producer’s process and differences in terroirs by observing their entire range,” says Vance, echoing Rovine’s positive place for creativity.

“When I work with a producer with less consistency – whether it be that they are less experienced, or always experimenting – I choose wines that I think will help their image and also not be a bad investment on my end,” he says. And while producers certainly have their own standards, Vance explains that seeing eye to eye from the start, both in terms of quality and expectations, is key. “If the wines fall too short, we will talk about it,” he says – and when the relationship is honest, fair, and open, these conversations generally shouldn’t cause too big of a rift.

Initial awareness

Bad years and freak incidents can certainly happen, though the chance of such can often be avoided through initial tastings and encounters. Vance reveals that many potential issues can be avoided during the vetting process. “If in the first interactions with a wine from a potential producer presents shades of brett, VA, or mouse, I am likely to not progress with them beyond the first tasting,” he says. While aware that everyone has their own unique tolerance for these “flaws”, Vance finds that it’s important to use one’s own discernment. “[My tolerance] lies in [deciphering something] intentional from a consequence of negligent winemaking,” he says.

Flouret notes that recent years have been tough on producers, particularly with regards to frost, hail, drought, and fires, all of which can negatively impact wines. Though for him, when it’s an environmental issue, it’s important to stay the course. “It is our duty to support them in difficult times by understanding and accepting the situation and its consequences,” he says, emphasizing the need to be patient and loyal. “Partnership is a key part of our philosophy, so we remain loyal throughout good and bad times.”

Dialogue is key

In short, Vance has found that the producers with whom he works generally want constructive and critical feedback, as they too want to get better. “Everyone needs critical feedback, no matter how good you are at what you do. To say everything is great, or to keep quiet when it’s not isn’t helpful for anyone’s growth,” he says.

As far as being skeptical early on, Vance recommends keeping an open mind, in conjunction with an unwavering standard for quality, too. “If you are too selective based on your own predilections, you bring greater opportunities to miss something special – perhaps something you may love years down the road,” he says, citing that his openness to different styles of wine has changed a lot over the years – though his tolerance for negligent winemaking has not.

And while Rovine understands that all importer/producer relationships are different, his response is simple: “Better just to take all of the wines.”