Everything about the largest wine-consuming nation in the world makes the creation of a list of its most notable wine professionals a challenging task. This is famously not a single market: Manhattan megastars are sometimes only mildly successful in Minnesota. It’s also a shooting gallery in which the targets sometimes move at bewildering speed: today’s heroes can swiftly become tomorrow’s zeroes. Fashion trends have to be followed carefully. ‘Critters’, the animals that seemed to grace every label a few years ago, are now dead. Today, everybody is looking for big, rich (and slightly sweet) red blends with names like Carnivor and Apothic. Unless, of course, they’re feminine labels like Cupcake and Little Black Dress.
The market is also hugely affected by the nature of the three-tier system, a phenomenon unique to the US. In other countries, deals can be done directly between producers and retailers, and a small number of supermarkets often monopolise the contents of the average consumer’s basket. In the US, however, wines pass like a baton from the importer to the wholesaler and from there to the liquor store and finally to the consumer. At each stage, an effective argument has to be made for the wine if the salespeople are to keep their jobs. This may help to explain the power, on the one hand, of wine points, and, on the other, of bloggers; every wine needs a sales story.
The following list of influential people was compiled using input from a variety of sources, ranging from industry members to online Power Indexes such as VinePair, which takes account of the impact individuals and companies have online. Please note that people have been chosen for being notable, which does not mean being the most experienced, most powerful, loudest-voiced or most fashionable, though in some cases these descriptions may be appropriate.
Producers of note
While the spotlight often focuses on some of the smallest of the US’s 7,750 or so wineries, the reality of the domestic market is that a large proportion of the production is in a small number of hands. Around 51% of the 375.2m cases sold in the US in 2013 came from three companies: Gallo, the Wine Group and Constellation. Of the smaller producers, three names stand out in terms of the notice they tend to get. Randall Grahm of Bonny Doon has always been a maverick in the styles of his wines, and in actions such as his widely publicised decision to switch from cork to screwcap. A younger generation of producers are taking notice of his way of thinking, partly thanks to his frequent presence on social media (he has 330,000 followers on Twitter). Paul Draper of Ridge Vineyards is another old timer who is gaining increased attention as California embraces wines with less heavyweight style, while Michael Mondavi is attracting interest with his new Family Estate.
At the other end of the spectrum, Bob Trinchero helped to revolutionise commercial wines with his highly successful Menage a Trois, blended, off-dry wines which are firmly targeted at non-traditional consumers. Brian Vos of the Wine Group presides over the company that does brilliantly in the same markets with brands such as flipflop and Cupcake and, most recently, Chloe. The innovative approach behind these wines, and the volume of his company’s sales places Vos firmly on the podium of notable producers, but he has only been at the helm for two years and many of the company’s high profile successes are associated with his predecessor, David Kent. A more obvious choice for most notable producer would be Rob Sands of Constellation, especially after its successful off-loading of its Australian and UK businesses. However, the most notable producer this year is Stephanie Gallo, who, as vice president of marketing at Gallo, has not only overseen the extraordinary rise of Barefoot to become the US’s biggest wine brand, but also the recent launch of Apothic and Dark Horse.
Notable importers
Approximately 34% of all wine consumed in the US is imported. The three-tier system, and the requirement that every imported bottle must carry a sticker with the name of its importer, has helped to make stars of a small band of importers. Wine lovers have learned to look out for bottles selected by companies such as Kermit Lynch, Robert Haas, Neal Rosenthal, Terry Theise and Louis/Dressner, each of which has its own house style. So Louis/Dressner fans tend to like French wines on the more traditional, elegant side of the line, while lovers of bigger, more modern Spanish wines might favour Jorge Ordóñez. If Ordóñez has helped to create a market for super-premium Iberian wines and Terry Theise is associated with German and Austrian wines and grower Champagnes, Leonardo LoCascio’s Winebow is the name most associated with Italy. Another company increasingly favoured by both Spanish and French wine fans is Eric Solomon’s European Cellars, which brings in a number of top names. But it’s an old timer who quietly edges to the front of the pack as the most notable wine importer in the US. Kermit Lynch opened his shop in Berkeley, California, way back in 1972, and ever since has exploited the fact that he both retails and imports an extraordinary range of French and Italian wines that today are seen as the meeting point between the classics and the newly fashionable ‘natural’ wine trend. Lynch’s role in the industry was illustrated recently by the reception given to the publication of an updated edition of Adventures on the Wine Route, which he wrote 25 years ago.
Notable distributors
In 2012, the total value of the US wholesale wine and spirit market was $47bn. Of that figure, nearly two-thirds passed through the hands of the top five companies. In rising order of importance: Young’s, Glazer’s, Charmer Sunbelt, Republic National and Southern. Of this handful, Southern Wines & Spirits – which turns over $10bn, as much as Charmer Sunbelt and Republic National combined – stands apart. There is no more powerful distributor in North America than Wayne Chaplin, Southern’s CEO. The numbers at Deutsch Family Wine & Spirits may be a lot smaller than the top five, but Bill Deutsch, the company chairman, and his son Peter, the CEO, head up a company that has always had a disproportionate impact on the market, with groundbreaking brands such as Duboeuf, Yellow Tail and most recently a fast-rising star called Josh Cellars. For this kind of innovation and for the canny way that Yellow Tail has recently been effectively relaunched, the Deutschs are the most notable distributors in the US.
Notable multiple retailers
In the US, multiple retailers are not as powerful as in countries like the UK or Australia. Another factor to be considered is the regional independence often given to their chains by outlets: getting a wine into all stores nationally is far from straightforward.
Some of the (relatively) smaller dynamic chains punch way above their weight in terms of their influence on the market. One of these, BevMo!, owes some of its prominence to the efforts of Wilfred Wong, a respected wine judge and writer who acted as the company’s public face. Another prominent player is David Trone, co-owner of Total Wine & More, a 100-store chain which has grown rapidly over the last decade and now has a range of over 8,000 wines and revenues in excess of $1bn.
However, the most notable multiple retailer has to be Costco, which claims to be one of the biggest wine retailers in the world in value terms, but does so with only around 100 SKUs per store. Buyer Annette Alvarez-Peters courted controversy when she said that selling wine was no different from selling toilet rolls, but the skill of her team is evident from the fact that the stores are as good at selling their own Kirkland label as lesser-priced top labels from California and Bordeaux.
Notable sommeliers
When talking about the most notable sommelier in the US, it’s important to differentiate between the people who come to the table, corkscrew in hand, and the ones who, like executive chefs, have moved on to a broader range of activities. George Miliotes, one of the best-known names in the on-trade for example, is ‘Master Sommelier and Director of Beverage’ at Seasons 52. But the chances of having him pour your wine are slight, given the 42 restaurants that make up this chain. On the other hand, the top class list, with its 64 wines by the glass, is all his work. Rajat Parr, wine director of the Michael Mina restaurants is known throughout the US for his role at the great RN74 restaurant and for publishing the award-winning book Secrets of the Sommeliers. Evan Goldstein is well respected as a wine educator through his Full Circle Wine Solutions business, while Master Sommelier and Master of Wine Doug Frost combines education with consultancies such as the wine selection for United Airlines.
Madeline Triffon, former Master Sommelier, now oversees wine selection at Plum Market, a nationally noted Michigan retailer, while notable Sommelier Andrea (Immer) Robinson is praised for her roles at Starwood Hotels and Delta Airlines and the way she has taken wine onto US television via her Fine Living Network programmes Simply Wine and Pairings with Andrea.
Opinion-makers
Apart from Jancis Robinson MW, there are almost no European or British writers who rival the power of critics on the other side of the Atlantic. In some cases, the number of readers addressed by these experts is unthinkably huge by European standards: If Wine Spectator readership figures are to be believed, a column in its pages might be read by 2m to 3m people. But even some of the bloggers with apparently small audiences often have a disproportionate influence over the market, thanks to the retailers and sommeliers who take account of what they say.
The most powerful opinion-former is Marvin Shanken, publisher of the Wine Spectator since 1979. Of his writers, James Laube still makes waves when he praises (or fails to praise) a Californian wine, while Matt Kramer occupies the higher, more intellectual ground in the publication. Adam Strum, editor and publisher of the Wine Enthusiast, is significantly less influential than Shanken, but judged against his counterparts elsewhere, a readership of over 750,000 has to be taken seriously. Cyril Penn, editor-in-chief of Wine Business Monthly, covers every aspect of the US industry from tractors to trends.
Steven Tanzer’s newsletter has a following among Americans who prefer more European-style wines, as does Allen Meadows’ Burghound, a Bible for Burgundy fans. Of the newspaper columnists, Eric Asimov has made The New York Times a must-read, while Lettie Teague, previously of Food & Wine Magazine, now writes an influential column in The Wall Street Journal. The most controversial newspaper contributor, however, is probably Jon Bonné of The San Francisco Chronicle who has taken the role of crusader against the bigger style of California wine.
In the blogosphere, Alder Yarrow, publisher of Vinography.com, and Joe Roberts, known as 1WineDude, have built phenomenal followings. However, they are rivalled by a recent entrant, Jon Thorsen, whose reversewinesnob.com is getting increasing attention online. Other names to look for are Tyler Colman (aka Dr Vino) and Steve Heimoff at steveheimoff.com, whose opinions are widely quoted, as are the cerebral efforts of Mike Veseth at wineeconomist.com. Watching over these, and all other bloggers, is Tom Wark, founder of the American Wine Blog Awards and publisher of fermentationwineblog.com.
And what of the two names that most people probably expected to see here: Gary Vaynerchuk and Robert Parker? Vaynerchuk has been a notable player through his online Wine Library TV, but in recent times has been more focused on other matters, while Parker’s influence, while still enormous, is waning. The surprise notable opinion former is someone who conforms to none of the styles of the people who’ve already been mentioned: Madeline Puckette, creator of Wine Folly, is doing an extraordinary job of educating consumers via clever infographics. From an almost standing start, she has shot to sixth place on the VinePair Power List and is recognised by canny industry insiders as having an impact on consumers who want to learn about wine in a 21st century way: simply and quickly.
Online information and services
Alongside the opinion formers, there is a new breed of professionals who put consumers together with each other and with the people who make and distribute wine. Of these, Eric LeVine’s Cellartracker, which has nearly 200,000 users, has edged ahead of its main competitor, Snooth, but Doug Cook’s Able Grape search engine is arguably attracting the most attention. Another who is making waves is Alyssa Rapp, who says she launched Bottlenotes out of “the desire to demystify the world of wine for new-to-intermediate wine enthusiasts, and to continue to help find creative ways to help brands gain access to this booming audience.” More than 125,000 Daily Sip e-mails are sent, largely to millennials who want to know more about wine but who feel daunted by traditional wine language. Rapp is narrowly beaten for the notable online service operator by Paul Mabray of VinTank, whose proprietary software enables wineries to know who is saying what about the brand.
Notable data providers
The market analysis in Marvin Shanken’s Impact Newsletter carries a lot of weight, as do the insightful online reports by Rob McMillan, founder of the wine division of the Silicon Valley Bank. The name on most wine professionals’ lips as the most notable data purveyor whenever they discuss the real numbers, however, is Jon Fredrikson of Gomberg, Fredrikson & Associates. His monthly analysis of imports and domestic sales and trends is the closest thing to a real-time route map of the US wine scene.
