When Rocco Lombardo assumed the President role at Wilson Daniels, one of the top luxury wine importers and marketers in the U.S., no one knew that in less than 8 years, he would grow the company to five times its size in revenue and case sales. Even more impressive, the privately owned company was able to grow its business by 68% during the pandemic, and did not lay off any employees.
Today Wilson Daniels oversees a wine portfolio of some of the most illustrious wine brands in the world. Examples include GAJA and Biondi Santi from Italy, whose wines average $300 to $600 per bottle; Royal Tokaji from Hungary whose Essencia can soar over $1200 per bottle; and Domaine de la Romanée-Conti from France, whose Romanée-Conti Grand Cru averages $26,000 per bottle.
So how do Rocco Lombardo and the rest of his team manage such an esteemed portfolio? In a recent interview, Lombardo describes the company strategy, reflects on the pros and cons of such rapid growth, and provides some tips to other wineries on how they can transform their businesses to enter the prestigious realm of fine wine.
Strategic Focus of Wilson Daniels
“We focus solely on family-run fine wine estates,” explains Lombardo, in describing the strategy of Wilson-Daniels, “that are looking at generational impact and sustaining their businesses for future generations. We provide them with a consistent path to market, working with our distribution partners.”
Lombardo further elaborates that they develop intimate relationships with these wineries, bringing their stories to life with depth and authenticity. This was also the founding principle of Win Wilson and Jack Daniels when they launched Wilson Daniels in 1978.
When Lombardo was recruited to take over the helm of Wilson Daniels in June of 2015, he came to the company with over 10 years of experience at Frederick Wildman & Sons, a fine wine and spirits importer. Since then he has grown the company to represent 55 family owned wineries from 7 different countries, collectively producing around 400+ distinctive wines per year.
In the past year alone, such strategic brands as Domaine Faiveley in Burgundy, Domaine du Nozay in Sancerres, Domaine Les Monts Fournois in Champagne, Jonive in Sonoma, and Composition from the Dundee Hills in Oregon, have joined the Wilson Daniels portfolio.
“We are brand-builders,” Lombardo states. “We help these family owned wineries to expand in the U.S. market. We do this with a national team of 200 employees, and our distribution partners – RNDC and Breakthrough – who are key to this.”
Under Lombardo’s leadership the company has launched its own separately owned wholesale businesses in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Oregon, and Washington.
Pros/Cons of Aggressive Growth Strategy
When analyzing the pros/cons of such an aggressive growth strategy, Lombardo admits that a major benefit is revenue growth – with wine portfolio revenues estimated at $130 million in 2022 and the wholesale business bringing in another $100 million, according to Shanken.
Lombardo also mentioned that the growth in the number of employees (the workforce doubled in size since he started) has allowed them to hire more women. The company also has a special page on their website recognizing female wine business professionals in their portfolio.
The fact that consumers in the U.S. are also purchasing more premium-priced wines is also a positive for Wilson Daniels. “There is no doubt you’re seeing continued premiumization in the wine business,” states Lombardo. “People are drinking better.”
However, there is a downside to such rapid expansion. When questioned about future growth, Lombardo replies, “We are at a period of pause. We need to digest new producers, and focus on our responsibilities to existing wineries.”
However, he rushed to clarify that, “Producers who have been with us since 2015 have seen their business double.”
How Wilson Daniels Launches a New Brand in the U.S Market
“When we are introducing a new winery partner,” explains Lombardo, “we set up trade events during the day and consumer events in the evenings. We taste the wines from winery partners, along with vignerons present.”
For example, he described how their new winery partner, Domaine Faiveley, will embark on an 8 city tour over a period of 10 days in May. In addition to trade and consumer events, Wilson Daniels also sets up distributor training and master classes with their wholesalers.
“We usually visit New York City, Chicago, Boston, Miami, Dallas, Denver, San Francisco and Los Angeles on these tours,” Lombardo comments. “These are all top locations for fine wine on-and off premise accounts, including Michelin star and Grand Award Winner restaurants.”
During the pandemic, Wilson Daniels also was able to market their imported wines successfully. “We actually launched two new wineries during Covid, and did nearly 300 virtual events and tastings,” says Lombardo. “We sent out 753 packs of wine samples so they could be tasted. We were able to fully operate remotely.”
Advice for Other Wineries to Enter the Fine Wine Realm
With an estimated 300,000 plus wineries in the world, it is only natural that a fine wine importer like Wilson Daniels is frequently approached by wineries with a request to import their brands to the lucrative U.S. market.
“We have to be respectful when someone approaches us and it is not a fit,” says Lombardo. “At the very least, we try to provide an opinion on other options for them in the market place.”
Lombardo also offers some useful advice to wineries who want to enter the fine wine realm. “Stay committed to core competencies,” he advises. “Too many wineries are trying to become something that they are not. We are looking for families that are a benchmark and estate driven.”
In recent years the company has also focused on wineries that are using sustainable, organic, and regenerative agriculture practices in the vineyard. “I think one of the most important things to do is to retain CO2 in the soil to reduce carbon emissions,” concludes Lombardo.