How do you make sure you can get your hands on the wines you really love? If you’re Ronnie Sanders, you start up your own wine import company. Having developed a taste for good wine from his father when he was young, Ronnie went on to create Vine Street Imports in 1999, dedicated to boutique and artisanal wines from around the world.

But the bug to develop his passion into a professional enterprise was growing, and for a few years in the mid-90s he supplemented his work in textiles by trying his hand at exporting some California wines. As Far East Wine Traders wines in his portfolio were sold all over Asia including Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Singapore.

In 1998 a good friend, Michael Twelftree, opened the door on Ronnie’s dream job when he asked Ronnie to help him import his wine from Australia. Twelftree knew he had the right person because of Ronnie’s expansive knowledge of wine and the way people gravitate to his enthusiasm. On his quest to find the best wines, Ronnie has traveled all over the world, hitting hot spots in Italy, Australia, France, Washington, and several other wine regions. He has also begun his own private label, Lost in Highway, which gives him the chance to have his say on the maturation and blending of his wines. He maintains the same high standards there that he has set for Vine Street Imports, where you can’t throw a rock without hitting a great bottle of wine – though I recommend selecting and opening the bottle in a more conventional manner.

Interview
Jim Clarke: You developed a love for wine early on; how did you build on that to acquire the wine knowledge necessary to go along with your business background and education?

Ronnie Sanders: My father was a wine geek and an avid collector or Bordeaux. When I was a kid, it was not unusual for him to open up a bottle of Lynch Bages, Latour, or a Pomerol at the dinner table. Neither of my sisters nor my mother really drank, so usually it was up myself and my dad to kick the bottle. My father died when I was 27 and left me with around three thousand bottles of wine. At the time my mother wanted to auction off the wine and I went ballistic. This was his legacy. It was at that time that I immersed myself in wine and wine culture.

JC: You’ve had the opportunity to work on both sides of the coin as an importer and an exporter of wines. What did you gain from working in these two opposing aspects of the wine business?

RS: From my experience in the exporting business I learned that in order to be successful in the wine business, you need to be on the ground wherever you are selling the product. I was exporting wine into Asia and not spending enough time in the markets where I was selling the wine. Now I am in the market selling almost 50% of the time.

JC: How do you go about finding and landing a new wine producer for Vine Street?

RS: All of the producers that I’ve found have been friends of friends. We’ve had a very natural growth, so we’ve never had to really search brands out. They have always pretty much just found us.

JC: Vine Street Imports is dedicated to boutique and artisanal wines; what affects has the so-called wine glut and the rise of economy and super-economy wines had on your operations?

RS: In short, it hasn’t. That’s more the lower end of the market that has gotten negatively affected. Our products are made in small quantities and the market can’t get enough, but we are not a sausage factory - we can’t just make more. Wine is an agricultural product and once a vintage is sold out, there is no more till next year. The Economy and Super-Economy end of the business really has very little impact on what we are doing.

JC: How have the new, post-9/11 laws and regulations on imports affected the way you do business?

RS: It’s just made it a little more difficult to do the actual importing. Our containers are taking a little longer to clear customs and they are checking the documentation a little more closely. Other than that, its been pretty much business as usual.

JC: Without giving away any secrets, what new areas of the world are you eyeing for new potential wines for your portfolio?

RS: My favorite wine region at this moment is the Heathcote region of Central Victoria. The Shiraz from there is very different than anywhere else in Australia or the rest of the world. The wines still have the enormous palate length and depth that the South Australian Shiraz does, but they are more in the red fruit and spice spectrum and not the plum and black fruit spectrum. I also think that Portugese still wines are ready to explode. They have all of the right elements: great weather, interesting local varietals, and, now, the know-how to make world-class wines. The level of foreign investment there is huge and it shows in the quality of the wines. Lastly, I was in Slovenia last fall and the wines there are world-class as well. I especially like the white blends that they are making from Tocai Friulano, Rebula, Chardonnay and Sauvignon.