I was first getting into wine, I, like many before me, became an avid player of Spin the Bottle. At tastings, in wine shops, at restaurant tables, I was constantly turning wines around to see the back label. This game of investigation revealed the importer, giving subtle clues about the style of what was in the bottle. And for a good stretch, I felt pretty in the loop with the small guys: Kermit Lynch and Neal Rosenthal, traditional French and Italian wines with purity; Louis/Dressner, avant-garde naturalist producers; De Maison Selections, off-the-beaten path discoveries from Spain; Rare Wine Co., seminal Old World winemakers.

But then, starting a handful of years ago, I found that more often than not when I’d spin, I’d come full-stop: Who the hell is that? Names that I’d never seen before, like Zev Rovine, José Pastor, Acid Inc. and, more recently, Selection Massale, Camille Rivière and Coeur Wine Co., were inhabiting a substantial amount of shelf and wine list space—each a small but mighty presence. Not only were the importers new to me, but the wines and producers were, too. Whereas, ten or 15 years ago, to be small meant anything other than Southern Wine & Spirits and its behemoth brethren, in today’s Golden Era of imports, that scale is much wider, with big at one end and small, smaller, smallest at the other. Largely, the success of these smaller businesses stems from intensely committed buyers at both the restaurant and retail level, an ever-growing interest in natural and more obscure wines and, crucially, a few importing logistics companies—like T. Elenteny and Fruit of the Vines—that are helping to make importing small amounts of wine much easier by handling administrative services for freight, customs and shipping.

After the honeymoon period of discovering those first wines, the dream model—fly to France, rent a car, knock on doors, find the next Coche-Dury—so perfectly set forth by Kermit Lynch’s Adventures on the Wine Route is hardly a reality.

“There’s been a real rise in sommeliers that are into off-the-beaten-path regions and retailers that champion smaller producers,” says Eric Clemons, owner of Coeur Wine Co., which imports wines from France, Italy and Spain exclusively to New York and New Jersey. That these buyers are receptive to working with a large swath of suppliers—some sommeliers say they buy from 40 or 50 different importers in a year—is a sea change from the way things used to be, when restaurants and stores relied on just a few importers.

The smartest buyers see the opportunity found in this diversity, despite the extra work. “[Small importers] have continued to bring me new discoveries from almost-forgotten corners of Italy,” says Shelley Lindgren, of Italian restaurants A16 and SPQR in San Francisco.  “I was lucky to find the three Etna Rossos we carried when we first opened; now, we carry dozens of excellent styles and producers from Mt. Etna.” The crazy thing is that Etna feels almost mainstream at this point, which sits these new upstarts in a bit of an arms race to find the next great region and as-yet-unknown producers for discovery-hungry buyers before anyone else does.

Plenty are placing bets on the Savoie and southwest France, while others are looking to producers who are upsetting the status quo in places like Chile and South Africa. Yet no matter how intense the competition has become, the model still holds that if you’re going to be a wine importer, you will probably find your start in a couple of bottles that you bring home in your suitcase from Europe.

That’s how Jenny Lefcourt launched her natural wine-focused company, Jenny & François Selections, back in 2000 while studying in France. “I fell upon a little tasting in the Loire, the Dive Bouteille, which at the time was probably only ten or 15 producers,” says Lefcourt. “Now, that same tasting has grown to over 100 producers, with thousands of people around the world coming to taste.” She realized years ago that the natural movement had expanded outside France, so she expanded her business, too. Jenny & Francois now brings in more than 60 producers from Italy, Spain, Austria and, most recently, the Czech Republic—from areas that produce the sort of cool-climate, high acid wines Lefcourt has always chased since she first fell in love with Loire Valley whites. But after the honeymoon period of discovering those first wines, the dream model—fly to France, rent a car, knock on doors, find the next Coche-Dury—so perfectly set forth by Kermit Lynch’s Adventures on the Wine Route is hardly a reality.

Importing and distributing wine requires a huge sum of money up front, patience to wade through the thicket of United States importation laws and an unwavering commitment to pounding the pavement to sell wine. “People get confused as to what they’re doing in the wine business,” says André Tamers of De Maison Selections, which is celebrating 20 years of business. “They think starting a distribution company is about going to Europe and having lunch, but it’s about having a truck.” Fifteen years into this importing revolution, these new little guys keep turning up with new places, winemakers and wines.

And at this moment when there’s a new portfolio popping up every couple of months, it only stands to reason that Spin the Bottle will become more of a stats game, along the lines of knowing a baseball player’s batting average and all the teams he’s ever played for. But it does seem that this new crop will continue to push all aspects of the industry for the better. “The little guys keep us one our toes,” says Tamers. “We’re making a newer, better website and always looking over our shoulder to make sure were in the right places. Continue reading at source - Punchdrink.com | Also read another great story on a small wine importer in Chicago who is making it happen.

This article was originally published on PunchDrink.com in Feb, 2016.