We are seekers of those outstanding small vineyard wines. Most importers would never give these wines a second thought, regardless of quality, because there is not enough to make a brand. Think of Small Vineyards as your personal wine detectives in Italy. We typically taste 200 to 300 wines each month, but only fall in love with one or two. Those we bring home, so that you, too, can discover them. As wonderful as the wine is, the stories of the families and artisans who make them are equally important. Who does not want to know more about the composer, painter, singer, or writer that touches more than your basic senses? We have found that many of you are like us and have a sincere desire to know more about the artists who make the wine. After all, what is art, if not a direct reflection of the one who makes it? Tappo a TappoWe came to be in the wine business simply because we love great wine. After we decided to focus on small, family-owned vineyards we were faced with two challenges. How to keep the flavor of the wine and the essence of the stories intact as we moved them from one continent to another. We are involved with the wine from the time the cork goes into the bottle until the time you pull it back out. We named our new philosophy cork to cork management. In Italian, it is called Tappo a Tappo. Tappo a Tappo means cork to cork. Simply put, it means that as the importer, Small Vineyards carefully manages the wines we import, from the moment the winemaker puts the cork in the bottle and put it into our hands, until the consumer takes it home. Tappo a Tappo is not just our philosophy, but our business model. We exercise the greatest degree of hands on control the law and logistics allow, including: Selecting only the wine for which we are truly passionate Encouraging the wine makers to have user friendly labels for the US market that satisfy an important part of a clients "need to know" Placing a Small Vineyards sticker on the front of each bottle so that the people who have come to trust us know which wine to try next Extreme heat or cold is the enemy of wine so we ship and store in temperature controlled environments including: warehouses in Italy containers over the ocean interstate trucking warehouses in the US Carefully selecting the portfolio of wines for each market, keeping it exciting and fresh Keeping the price as low as is consistent with good business practice, and always "over-delivering" for the money Managing the educational information that is distributed, and getting it into the hands of the people who need to know, so that they in turn can spread the word Creating POS materials and displays that attracts, informs and encourages trial Tappo a Tappo is a new and different way to guide your wine exploring experience, and it's only from Small Vineyards. As the importer, we understand that we are the bridge that brings the wine, the stories, and the passion of these Italian winemakers to America. If we did not spend all the extra energy to share what we have learned with our distributors, their clients and with you the public, we would be just like every other importer. But we not only accept the responsibility, we embrace what we do with an ardor that hopefully equals that of the men and women who labor in love to grow and make the wine of Small Vineyards.
Doumina Whyman 2008-03-16