I have always been committed to profiling high quality importers
who represent dinstinctive wines. Long-time readers may remember the profiles
I wrote on such specialty/niche importers as Europvin (Christopher Cannan),
Kermit Lynch and Leonardo LoCascio. While some of these specialty importers
have an effective system of national distribution, most of them tend to
specialiaze, selling their wines on an exclusive basis in this country's
top three or four dozen marketplaces. because they deal with relatively
small quantities of wine, their selections will not be found in every
city. However, it is the quality, not the quantity of their selections
that obligates me to dedicate space and attention to their efforts.
Eric Solomon of European Cellars is another exceptionally
talented individual who has a penchant for ferreting out superb,
generally unknown estates from the Rhone Valley and Languedoc-Roussillon
regions of France. He also has ventured into Spain with considerable
success. Solomon began as a budding musician (he even had a brief
understudy with the London Symphony Orchestra as a principal percussionist).
However, his interest quickly turned to wine as he found himself
spending more time in Londons wine bars than beating on his drums.
In 1980 he officially began his wine career as a director of French
Wines and Ports for Heublein. By 1989, "tired of the corporate
wine world's mentality", he established European Cellars,
which is dedicated to working with "small, intensely serious
wine-makers in both classic and emerging wines regions throughout
Europe". Like other specialty importers, Solomon believes
in shipping all his wines in temperature-controlled containers
and, assuming the wines are stable and free of potential problems,
he insists that the wies be bottled with no filtration.
Following are some of the top choices from Eric
Solomon's portfolio. These are some sensational bargains, as well
as truly great wines. As is often the case with these small specialty
importers, many of their producers make frightfully small quantities,
but because of their high quality, they merit considerable attention
from consumers searching for the best."
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