This hasn't been a good week for Strappo. Felled by the one-two punch of an allergy-based sinus infection and antibiotics, he's been confined to his dee-luxe apartment high above glamorous First Avenue in Manhattan. When I visited him this afternoon--seizing this opportunity to corner the lion in his lair, if lions can be said to have lairs (I'm not up on animal lodging)--the sun had just begun to sear the living room with suffocating heat. Weakly, Strappo pointed my toward the windows and the shades. When lowered, they lent a crepuscular gloom to the room. I was able to remove my sunglasses. Though the heat remained intense, Strappo lay on the couch under a heavy Irish woolen blanket. With a wan smile he indicated that I should sit. But first, he said, he wanted a beer and three Advil. Plus a benadryl. These medications make me thirsty, he allowed. Make that two beers.
After many preliminaries, which included trips to the bathroom and another journey to the fridge, I was able to begin the interview.
Me: Aside from your current indisposition, Strappo, how have things been going lately?
Strappo: OK.
Would you care to elaborate?
Mmm. Well. We've really started to see some excellent results from the new states like North Carolina, Kentucky, Ohio. The wines seem to be winning 'em over out there.
Another factor in our relative success in far-away places, aside from committed salespeople and retailers: competition isn't as stiff as in the New York area. A lot of small importers here don't venture too far from home.
What sort of wines are winning them over?
All sorts. Reds, whites.
Would you care to elaborate?
Our price/value leaders are doing great, the Soaves from I Stefanini and the Montepulciano d'Abruzzos from Costantini. The Mustilli wines are gaining ground, especially their delicious, easy-drinking Piedirosso.
The ever-loving surprise has been the Aglianico del Vulture from Musto Carmelitano, especially the Serra del Prete. No oak. Cement tanks for aging. People go nuts for it. They should.
But I don't want anyone to think I'm playing favorites or anything. Some wines sell themselves, almost, and some don't move no matter what. And some of the ones that don't sell are -- what's that word? -- "authentic" as hell.
Why is that?
Because they're too authentic, of course. The public's not ready for them. The buyers aren't ready for them. Geeks like obscure grapes and appellations. Most people shy away from them. They'd rather order, what, a Chianti or a third-rate Barbera than a first-rate Aglianico.
I see Domenico Selections has no Chiantis in its portfolio. No Brunellos. No Barolos. Did you just drop the ball on that one?
[Strappo coughed violently for a minute or so.] If you're trying to provoke me, you're doing a helluva job, Brownie. When we started Domenico Selections, we saw the excessive presence of Piemonte and Tuscany on restaurant wine lists and importers' portfolios. You know, 25 or 30 Tuscans and one or two wines from Campania or Abruzzo. Often none from Marche, Friuli -- well, Friuli's been hot for a while, but too many of the wines are too expensive and cultish, gimmicky. Add to that the fact that, with an economy that was already showing signs of dangerous weakness, the prices from Tuscany and Piemonte had reached insane heights. We didn't want to get stuck with a bunch of unsellable wine -- expensive unsellable wine.
We also wanted to offer something just a little different -- and better, if I may say so -- that would give us a competitive advantage. So we aimed for mid-priced wines that enabled us to present "terroir" plus good value.
As you can see on our website, we're heavy in Campania. Well, not so heavy now, as you'll see when the website updates are finally completed. This was a strategy abetted by serendipity. Through Luciano Pignataro of Il Mattino in Naples, we met Fortunato Sebastiano, a young enologo from the province of Avellino -- the best appellations in Campania, as many would agree. We liked Fortunato, liked many of the wines that he collaborates on, and we took them on. They represented something a bit different, wines with real character, clean and as "natural" as you could want, and mostly not too expensive. Well, we did overpay some of them at first. Classic beginner's mistake. We don't do that anymore.
You've written a lot about pricing. And about the unrealistic expectations of many Italian producers. Talk about that for a minute.
Not even that long. A lot of them have stars in their eyes. They see an American walk in and they think, "Ka-ching!" They say, "But in Germany they pay X."
We say, "We have the entire world's wines on our shelves. it's cut-throat. Forget it."
If they don't see it as a partnership with the importer, they aren't going to do very well. They'll be changing importers all the time. Then they'll wonder why they don't get anywhere in America.
You say your line-up of producers is changing. Why?
There are several reasons. One stopped producing wines in a natural way--specifically, he started doing stuff in the vineyard and cellar that neither Fortunato nor we approved of. And he'd cheaped out on corks, so we had a lot of problems with bad bottles. One went out of business due to the credit crunch in 2008. And another one made highly local, individual wines that we loved. They didn't sell. In short, normal reasons.
At present your wines hail from only five or six regions. Italy has twenty. What about your plans to diversify, to spread out?
We're discussing and negotiating with producers in Marche, Sardinia, Trentino-Alto Adige. A Lombard producer is on the horizon, also a Sicilian. It takes time -- a minimum of 6-9 months from first encounter and tasting to a shipment arriving in the States. I think it's really more like a year in the majority of cases. Add another 9-12 months to see if a wine grabs hold in the market. It's a serious commitment for all parties.
I have to admit we've become harder-headed about the wines we'll take on. Not only does it have to be a very good example of its type and terroir, it has to be affordable. The only thing harder than ending the relationship with a good producer is taking a pass on one entirely.
But the very worst thing is to lose your shirt on your bet.
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