PARTNERING WITH THE LITTLE GUYS

Yesterday, our Fort Thomas store manager, Ray, and I went up for a private tasting at the warehouse of one of our distributors, Tramonte & Sons. Devon, our Tramonte rep, is a former Liquor Direct employee who moved on to work the wholesale side of things with them several years ago, and she invited us up to try some of the new wines they have just acquired.
Tramonte & Sons is one of the “little guys” – a distributor who lives and breathes wine, and represents some pretty amazing up-and-coming wineries from California, as well as wineries and importers from around the world. They are fairly new to the game in this area, and do business in both Ohio and Kentucky.

Now, when I say Ray and I went up for a private tasting, it was not a big, over-the-top affair. It was just Ray, myself and Devon, popping corks in the warehouse and trying out a lot of great new wine, as well as a few things we already have in the store.

I won’t give you the play-by-play, but I will tell you that Ray, a 12-year veteran in the wine business, was really surprised and impressed by the roster of wines we tried. I too, was impressed by the great new acquisitions they accumulated. The Broadside Cabernet Sauvignon from Paso Robles winemaker Chris Brockway, The Hoopla Chardonnay from Oakville and winemaker Mitch Cosentino, the Il Campo, also from winemaker Brockway, and the St. Helena Winery Seduire from winemaker Kristian Story – these were just some of the amazing wines we tasted, and served as a terrific indicator for the things to come for this family-run wholesaler.

Matt Tramonte and his father Mike know what they are doing, and that is evident as they have become the distributor for probably my favorite Australian importer, the Australian Premium Wine Collection. Wines such as The Wishing Tree Shiraz, Elderton Command, Aramis Black Label, Tir Na N’og Grenache and Rutherglen Red will be back in the store, and I couldn’t be happier.

It is wholesalers like Tramonte & Sons that help make us successful by bringing to the market exceptional wines that our customers can enjoy and often come back for, again and again. We’ll be integrating some new selections from Tramonte in the coming weeks, just in time for the holidays. To everyone at Tramonte & Sons, thanks for having us, and thanks for being a great business partner.