The place for all things wine, focused on serious wine discussions.

Whatta Discovery..New Importer:Balanced Wine Selections

Moderators: Jenise, Robin Garr, David M. Bueker

no avatar
User

TomHill

Rank

Here From the Very Start

Posts

7842

Joined

Wed Mar 29, 2006 12:01 pm

Whatta Discovery..New Importer:Balanced Wine Selections

by TomHill » Sun Aug 12, 2018 4:37 pm

Wow....whatta discovery: Balanced Wine Selections
https://balancedwineselections.com/

EmilioCastelli (Castelli Family Wines) is on a family vacation at Lake Como and did a visit last week in the Valtelline
with Siro Buzzetti/Terrazzi Alti and really liked the wine. Brutal viticulture compared to what Emilio farms in GreenVlly.

So I did a search to see if that wine was imported into the USofA. Up popped Balanced Wine Selections.
Who the heck be they?? So I took a look at their WebSite...and was immediately blown away.
Just placed an order for two cases of wines I can't live without. The countries they represent (Austria/Italy/France/Spain)
are all (mostly) right there in my wheelhouse. I look at their producers. Almost all I've not heard of. A whole bunch
of new wines/wineries to explore.

This is an importing company that is based in Sonoma. They don't do any wholesale distribution (to speak of), only a few
sales to restaurants. Mostly their business is DTC sales. Mostly by word-of-mouth (like my big mouth yammering away).
Having worked my way thru the Winemonger and Blue Danube portfolio (two other importers who do extensive DTC sales),
I now have a whole nuther portfolio to ransack. And the kicker? Reasonable prices and free shipping on a hlf case or more.

BWS is a company started by Michael Weiss (not the famous Napa winemaker) and Chris Walsh. Chris is based up in
Minnesota. Michael is based in Colorado (have you ever noted that there is an unusually large number of outstanding small
importers based in CO?? I attribute this to Bobby Frasca/Stuckey's influence). Warehousing/shipping is from the Sonoma office.

One of the neat things BWS does is put together a Wine Discovery Package if you want to explore one of their represented
wine regions.

Since most of the folks here on this Board are about to run out of wine and need another source to buy wines,
I would suggest you check out BWS.

Tom
no avatar
User

Mark S

Rank

Wine guru

Posts

1174

Joined

Thu Mar 23, 2006 4:28 pm

Location

CNY

Re: Whatta Discovery..New Importer:Balanced Wine Selections

by Mark S » Mon Aug 13, 2018 7:52 am

Hmmm...live in Minnesota and Colorado but have office in California. Weird.

But why import the wines when you can get Americans to plant these grapes up and down the coast of California??
no avatar
User

TomHill

Rank

Here From the Very Start

Posts

7842

Joined

Wed Mar 29, 2006 12:01 pm

Touche...

by TomHill » Mon Aug 13, 2018 8:01 am

Mark S wrote:Hmmm...live in Minnesota and Colorado but have office in California. Weird.

But why import the wines when you can get Americans to plant these grapes up and down the coast of California??


Touche, Mark!!

When you do most everything on the InterNet, where you're physically located is often
just an afterthought.
Tom
no avatar
User

wnissen

Rank

Wine guru

Posts

1221

Joined

Wed Mar 22, 2006 1:16 pm

Location

Livermore, CA

Re: Whatta Discovery..New Importer:Balanced Wine Selections

by wnissen » Mon Aug 13, 2018 12:38 pm

Mark S wrote:Hmmm...live in Minnesota and Colorado but have office in California. Weird.

But why import the wines when you can get Americans to plant these grapes up and down the coast of California??


If I had to guess, most states will not allow the same legal business to be an importer and retailer. California is one of the few, thus the many import/retail places like K&L, the late Premier Cru, etc.

Do they really specialize in balanced wines. That's quite a statement.
Walter Nissen
no avatar
User

TomHill

Rank

Here From the Very Start

Posts

7842

Joined

Wed Mar 29, 2006 12:01 pm

Re: Whatta Discovery..New Importer:Balanced Wine Selections

by TomHill » Mon Aug 13, 2018 12:46 pm

wnissen wrote:
Mark S wrote:Hmmm...live in Minnesota and Colorado but have office in California. Weird.

But why import the wines when you can get Americans to plant these grapes up and down the coast of California??


If I had to guess, most states will not allow the same legal business to be an importer and retailer. California is one of the few, thus the many import/retail places like K&L, the late Premier Cru, etc.

Do they really specialize in balanced wines. That's quite a statement.


I believe that is correct, Walt. The ones that I like mostly do not have a brick & mortar shop. BWS does not,
it's mostly an InterNet business.

I think Balanced Wine Selections is just a name they've chosen. The make no mention of specializing in "balanced" wines. Their emphasis is scouting out lesser know producers thru Europe and developing a connection with them.
Tom
no avatar
User

David M. Bueker

Rank

Riesling Guru

Posts

34220

Joined

Thu Mar 23, 2006 11:52 am

Location

Connecticut

Re: Whatta Discovery..New Importer:Balanced Wine Selections

by David M. Bueker » Mon Aug 13, 2018 1:03 pm

Sounds like another version of Selection Massale.
Decisions are made by those who show up
no avatar
User

TomHill

Rank

Here From the Very Start

Posts

7842

Joined

Wed Mar 29, 2006 12:01 pm

Re: Whatta Discovery..New Importer:Balanced Wine Selections

by TomHill » Mon Aug 13, 2018 1:23 pm

David M. Bueker wrote:Sounds like another version of Selection Massale.


I don't think SM does any DTC but only goes thru distributors in each State.
BWS appears to do only DTC sales.
Tom
no avatar
User

TomHill

Rank

Here From the Very Start

Posts

7842

Joined

Wed Mar 29, 2006 12:01 pm

Terrific Service...

by TomHill » Sun Aug 19, 2018 2:12 pm

Just got an e-mail from MichaelWeiss that he saw my third case was delivered on Sat, ahead of
the scheduled FedEx Mon delivery.
He wanted to check to make sure everything was OK w/ the Fri & Sat shipments and they were
the wines I ordered.
Exemplary customer service. Some folks get it...and some don't. Promises to be the
start of a long & fruitful relationship.
Tom

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: AhrefsBot, ClaudeBot, DotBot, Google [Bot], Majestic-12 [Bot], SemrushBot and 3 guests

Powered by phpBB ® | phpBB3 Style by KomiDesign