“The wines are on their way!” said Diego.

We let out a whoop. After months and months, we finally had our Italian wines crossing the ocean to our warehouse in California.

We had been surprised at how long it took, even after all our deals were in place, to get our winemakers to ship.

But importer Barry was well prepared… 

“This is why we started on Italy so early,” Barry explained. “The Italians – much like the Argentines – are used to deals falling through at the last minute. If they’ve never done business with you before, smaller producers often wait till the last minute to fulfill their end of the bargain. It’s not personal. They just don’t want to get caught in a deal gone bad.”

Continued Below. First, French winemaker Julien Miquel explains why MOST wines are not meant to be aged… and what to do with white wines and Champagne….(don’t worry: if you click on the video, you’ll be able to keep reading on the next page)

Large importers often don’t deal with smaller producers, no matter the quality of their wine. The hand-holding required for such a small volume of wine simply doesn’t make economic sense. The result is that a lot of wines considered among the best in their respective regions never see US shores.

The good news: all of our Italian wines are now en route.

You’ll receive details about all the bottles and the upcoming shipment soon. It’s nothing like the overpriced Italian wine you’ve had before (even though it WILL contain Barolos, Brunellos, Chiantis…and a little-known type of wine that goes for up to $3,000 a bottle!).

These are wines that come from a tradition going back 800 years… born on slopes shrouded in fog… where veteran winemakers, hand-rolled cigarettes dangling from their lips, walk among rows of dark purple grapes and greyish green olive trees… not to make wine but to discover the soul – le anima – of the land itself… stay tuned!

Ciao! 

Bonner Private Wines

Until then… check out Julien’s latest weekly tasting VIDEO: