We get emails and phone calls every day from wine producers asking us to carry their product. Unfortunately, most of the time we must decline their advances based on price, packaging, wine quality and marketability. Sometimes, however, when we need to fill a niche, or we lose a supplier, we set out on an adventure to find the next great wine to add to our book of Exclusive Wine Imports.
Our newest opportunity came in an email inviting us to visit with the Sud de France to attend their Forum International d’Affaires, a convention for winemakers in the South of France to meet potential importers from around the world. We’d been looking for the perfect French wine to add to our Exclusive Wine Imports portfolio for some time now, so this seemed like the perfect opportunity. Fortunately for us, we were accepted, and so off we went to Montpellier!
The first day was a grueling parade of tastings. There were 1,500 products and we had to choose twenty producers to meet with over the next two days. What were we looking for? We wanted a nice package, a good range of wines, affordability, and of course quality wine. After seven hours of tasting over 300 products we chose our favorites, and returned to the hotel to brush the deep purple hue off our teeth.
Over the next two days we sat down with fifteen of our selected producers to taste their wine, ask about their winery, their values, and their commitment to launching their brand in the US as one of Marquee’s Exclusive Wine Imports.
Which three wineries stood out?
Stay tuned to learn more about our picks and how we narrowed down our top choice down to the one brand that is perfect for Marquee Exclusive Wine Imports.
