Scott Ades has a very impressive resume ranging from investment banker, to supervisor of HR control software and for corporations and brokerage firms, to serving as COO of a national distributor of fine wines and spirits in the United States. Scott had it all, whether on his resume or in life, as he was “really happy” where he ended up professionally and had no preference to leave. But sometimes, when you’re comfortable, you don’t know what you’re missing until much later in life, when it’s too late.
A small, unconventional importer of wines and spirits would eventually lead Scott down another path that, in some tactics, was far more complicated but, in others, immensely more rewarding.
Wine importer Dalla Terra Winery Direct specialises in small Italian wine producers and a giant part of its portfolio includes esoteric wines that enjoy a high reputation thanks to the country’s most sensible sommeliers.
A classic importer buys the wines from wineries and then sells them to a distributor who can make placements in restaurants and retail stores throughout the United States. In this case, the classic importer will set the wholesale value of the wines as high as possible. imaginable to make maximum money. In many cases, when a wine producer from another country sees the final retail value in a store or restaurant in the U. S. , they are not able to sell their own money. In the U. S. , which may come as a surprise when comparing the importer’s acquisition value to the final value, the manufacturer does not. Know what margin the importer has added compared to the margin added through the distributor and then the retail store. This can be deeply disturbing for a small manufacturer, who is sometimes unaware of the value of his wines, as he is sometimes persuaded to sell his wines to the importer at a much lower price, as he is desperate to enter the US market. On the other hand, it is possible for the importer to have a particularly higher value of their wines.
According to Scott, Dalla Terra is more of a “national agent” in the way it operates. They make up all the wineries in the U. S. , like any other importer, and their style of business is based on what they consider to be a much more symbiotic relationship. .
Wineries sell directly to distributors, so they are the ones who decide the price. Of course, Dalla Terra represents them in those deals with those distribution companies, because Dalla Terra not only has long-standing relationships with those companies, but can also advise wine makers on moderate costs that don’t exclude them from the market, but allow them to make as much money as possible. Dalla Terra also works with manufacturers to advertise their wines in the market, but it’s the wine makers’ money. that budgets for the promotion.
If winemakers sell more wines, Dalla Terra earns more because they paint on commission. That’s why it’s in Dalla Terra’s productive interest to make sure that manufacturers make maximum money while promoting their wines. Scott did the math and says that if a classic importer were to bring the wines from Dalla Terra’s portfolio, the final costs of the wines in restaurants and stores would be about 20% higher, which would also benefit consumers.
How did Scott, a guy who held high-level positions in companies, end up in a small business?
Brian Larky
Dalla Terra was founded in 1990 through Brian Larky, a guy who works in the wineries of the Napa Valley vineyards, because he fell head over heels in love with Italy while working on a vineyard in the Italian wine region of Lombardy. For him, it was about getting to know other people and living the Italian lifestyle of spending time with other smart people, drinking good wines, and dining on delicious food. I wanted to spend a lot of time in Italy to be part of the Italian community. So he started a wine importing business that was absolutely transparent to wine producers. Brian has also made sure that there are no internal conflicts between his wineries, as they only have one manufacturer representing an express wine region of Italy.
Over time, Dalla Terra has made a call among wine distributors and buyers looking for something distinct and exclusive in the world of Italian wine. Scott Ades was the COO of a giant distributor with a giant portfolio of high-end Italian wines that distributed Dalla Terra wines and knew Brian and Brian’s former corporate president. Once the former president retired, Scott was approached to come to Dalla Terra to fill that position, but he was satisfied where he was and it never occurred to him to leave. , you may not yet be able to think that it would come one day when you were 60 years old and that you might regret not taking that step when you were still young enough to do so. If you can, you’ll sign up for Dalla Terra. just be a co-owner and president.
Although Scott treated all sales and operations for a large wine and spirits company as part of his duties when he was chief operating officer, in his first year at Dalla Terra more than six years ago, he worked twice as hard as he did at his previous job. And it’s definitely a tricky time for small importers and small wine producers, like Covid, shipping issues, and the way other people’s paintings have been turned upside down. But it wouldn’t replace anything because applying for Dalla Terra gave more meaning to his paintings.
“We talk more about ourselves as a family,” Scott said of the Dalla Terra workers and wineries. Today, when he travels to Italy to make a stopover at his wine producers, he is the most productive type of family to make a stopover because everything is above all else and any kind of good luck is mutually beneficial. Scott smiles proudly: “The other people we make up care about us and we care about them. And his track record of knowing the ins and outs of the realities of an incredibly globally competitive society is a wonderful asset to his winemaking family, and after all, he can transition his career where he builds true lifelong relationships.
Dalla Terra Winery Direct wine range.
Cleto Chiarli “Vecchia Modena Premium” Lambrusco di Sorbara DOC, Emilia-Romagna, Italy: one hundred percent Lambrusco di Sorbara. The Chiarli family is undoubtedly one of the most important producers of sparkling red wines in the world and has produced original Lambrusco wines are a favorite among connoisseurs and lovers of Italian wines. This sparkling red wine of the Brut variety is likely to be dry on the palate with delicious flavors of pristine red cherries and raspberry sorbet with stony minerality and caramel bubbles caressing the palate.
2021 Alois Lageder “Porer” Pinot Grigio, Vigneti delle Dolomiti IGT, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy: one hundred percent Pinot Grigio. The Lageder family has been dedicated to wine for more than two hundred years and is one of the manufacturers you can count on to produce a premium Pinot Grigio with a sense of belonging. This bottling called “Porer” is intended as a winemaker’s wine because it involves experimenting with other techniques to produce a complex Pinot Grigio. Some of the grapes were pressed without delay after harvest to maintain the novelty of flavors and aromas. Another component stays on the skin for 15 hours and the third component in contact with the stems and skin for about a year, absorbing color, some tannins, and other rich flavors. Complex nose of citrus flowers, candied apples and honeysuckle with honey and a hint of Brazil nuts on the nose with a clever weight on the palate balanced through a completely new acidity.
2020 Vietti ‘Derthona’ Timorasso, Colli Tortonesi DOC, Piedmont, Italy: one hundred percent Timorasso. The Vietti family has been an essential pillar of the perfect quality of Piedmont, which has been taken to the next level thanks to the current generation winemaker Luca Currado Vietti. Although they are known for their red wines that come from some of the most productive vineyards in the Barolo and Barbaresco wine regions of Piedmont, in recent years they have made an exciting wine from the indigenous white wine. Juicy nectarine with notes of saffron and blanched almonds with a saline minerality on a long finish.
2020 Tenuta Tascante “Ghiaia Nera” Etna Rosso DOC, Sicily, Italy: one hundred percent Nerello Mascalese. Extreme viticulture because this wine comes from one of the most active volcanoes in the world. The “Ghiaia Nera” comes from the young vineyards of Nerello Mascalese and brings some of the qualities of the old vines discovered in other bottles of Tenuta Tascante, but with softer tannins and a general novelty. Pleasant nose of lilacs and rose petals with a new tarragon and raspberry tart with silky tannins and branded doughs. novelty on the palate.
Dalla Terra Winery Wine Direct.
2019 Poliziano, Asinone, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano DOCG, Tuscany, Italy: 95% Sangiovese, 5% Canaiolo and Merlot. From the Asinone winery, known for its poor soil, ideal for moderate vigor to produce premium quality Sangiovese. On the nose, black fruits, such as black cherry and blackberry, with notes of crushed rose petals and elevated earth with explained tannins and a very spicy overall structure.
2017 Tenuta Scerscé ‘Essenza’ Valtellina Superiore DOCG, Lombardy, Italy: one hundred percent Chiavennasca (Nebbiolo). For lovers of the Nebbiolo grape, Valtellina is a must-see wine region; It is grown in tiny vineyards located on very steep slopes, inside old terraces, where it is called Chiavennasca. This heritage is maintained by a foreign lawyer, Cristina Scarpellini, whose project is to maintain the old customs as she is part of an agreement that protects the old terraces. Brambles and undergrowth with notes of violet on the nose, a sublime frame and finely etched tannins.
2018 Marchesi di Grésy, Martinenga, Barbaresco DOCG, Piedmont, Italy: one hundred percent Nebbiolo. The Martinenga winery is the largest single monopoly in the Langhe and has belonged to the di Grésy family since 1797. An authentic intensity of red fruit that expresses itself magnificently on the nose and in the mouth with a lot of energy with a long and sublime finish that leaves notes of cherry and truffle compote on the head.
2006 Capezzana, Carmignano, Villa di Capezzana, Carmignano DOCG, Tuscany, Italy: 80% Sangiovese and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon. The Capezzana estate dates back to the year 804, and the vintages in the winery date back to 1925. The smallest DOCG in Tuscany and the Cabernet Sauvignon planted on the Capezzana estate comes from the Château Lafite Rothschild winery, as the Contini Bonacossi family bought the estate from a member of the Rothschild family in 1920. This wine is incredibly generous even at this time. standard of living, with masses of blackcurrant and black cherry with intoxicating aromas of new leather and smoky earth; An absolute star of a wine.
2013 Capezzana, Carmignano Riserva “Trefiano” Villa di Capezzana, Carmignano DOCG, Tuscany, Italy: 80% Sangiovese, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Canaiolo. This Riserva is made only in vintages and the grapes come from a 12-acre winery. surrounding the historic Villa di Trefiano in Carmignano DOCG. Beautifully balanced with intriguing notes of freshly fallen autumn leaves intertwined with dark chocolate and baking spices, an abundance of juicy fruit on the palate, elevated through an entrepreneurial design along a savory finish.
2019 Capezzana, Carmignano, Villa di Capezzana, Carmignano DOCG, Tuscany, Italy: 80% Sangiovese and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon. It shows an elegant quality from the first sip with a lovely purity of black cherry with a hint of tobacco and freshly grated nutmeg with a sublime texture and long, expressive finish.