One of the toughest aspects of learning about wine is getting a handle on producers. There are so many wineries, wines, vintages, so much to consider. How do you know the wine you are choosing is a good one, or from a respected producer? Is it the style you were looking for?

The best way I’ve found is to follow importers, learn whether they match your palate, and to explore their portfolio.

The following are respected importers to start exploring, especially for France and Italy. Sign up for their newsletters, start with a region you’re interested in learning more about. From their portfolio, head to the winery website and learn more.

I’ll start with my favourite, Kermit Lynch. If you haven’t yet read Adventures on the Wine Route, it’s a great read.

Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant

The wines featured are from France and Italy. There are great succinct summaries of the sub-regions they curate from on the site. If you’re interested in Beaujolais this is a great set of wineries to learn about. They have regular 20% off sales. I was able to visit the shop in San Francisco, it was very exciting for me to see and touch all the labels. I picked up a bottle of Télégramme from Vieux Télégraphe, such a delicious grenache, and went to dinner at Alice Waters’ Chez Panisse down the street. Sidenote aside, the wines are generally in a low intervention style, many organically farmed, there is a good range of price points to work within (the philosophy is covered in the book). Their newsletter is interesting and informative.

Rosenthal Wine Merchant

Artisanal wines from Italy, France, Spain, Austria, Switzerland, in a natural style, aka largely unfixed and unfiltered. A place to find some unknown gems that you might not of heard of before. Check out Neil Rosenthal’s book, Reflections of a Wine Merchant, another great read.

Martine’s Wines

The focus here is France, with a little Portugal. Originally founded by Martine Saunier, a French woman who moved to California, you’ll recognize some big names especially from Burgundy (such as Leroy) in the portfolio but there are small lesser known wineries too. There is a nice selection of blog articles on their producers and vintage reports, but be sure to go to their producer listing and read some of the summaries there about the wineries and winemakers.

The Rare Wine Co.

If I lived in the USA and needed a special older bottle, I’d definitely head to their retail website to peruse the amazing selection of older bottles. Whether you’re new to learning about wine or an old hat, how much fun to head to their producer listing and read through it. From Trimbach to Mascarello to Raveneau, lots of fun to be had here.

Becky Wasserman

Mainly France (especially Burgundy), some Italy and Germany. “If we won’t drink it, we won’t sell it” is a great motto. A cool thing on their site is the listing by importers, so you can see the list of importers from around the world. Check out an interview with the late Becky Wasserman and Jasper Morris MW (from 67 Pall Mall).

OK, this is a good start… I’ll add more soon, from outside the US. If you have a recommendation to add to the list please send me a message :)

Thanks, Rachel