Our Team
Our team starts with our family. Cristina and Marco Doria were born and raised in Italy, in a small subdivision of the Rivalta di Torino municipality called Pasta (not a joke!). It was our parents who taught us about personal relationships and the importance of family and friends in every aspect of our lives. As an introvert, cooking was a way for our mom to connect with people while our dad brought everyone together with his positivity, energy, and jokes. In this environment we came to associate food, people, and wine as happiness.
Even though we grew up in Piemonte, amongst the world’s finest wine regions and the land of the King of Italian wine, Barolo, we had no idea about wine appellations, ratings, and tasting notes, and probably could not afford most bottles. However, wine was part of our daily lives being on the table every day, watching our grandmother drinking a glass with her meal (she never drank water), and assisting our father and uncle bottling the bulk wine they bought from friends in the Langhe, when the area was not as renowned.
Part of our upbringing not only included planned gatherings but also on regular days friends and family dropping in and staying for dinner. Food and wine on the table came to signify happiness and laughter regardless of any special occasion to celebrate. Longing to recreate the same feelings, we want others to feel transported to the time and place where the wine was made and create memories, the same ones we have from our Italian heritage.
Valuing the special connections our relatives and friends had forged procuring the wine they drank, we also felt the need to personally connect with the producers whose wines we were considering importing. As a result, we did not want to have bottle samples mailed but chose to visit all wineries in person to get a better sense for their practices and philosophy. Ultimately, we established a collaborative relationship with the winemakers who share a love for their land and traditions that we want to transmit to our customers.
The partnership we forged with our distributor, Henry’s Passion, is another backbone of our business. It is rewarding to work together with Jean, Chip, and Chase to handle the complex logistics of wine distribution. They have helped us navigate the rules and regulations, and we have taught them about our wines and producers.
Working closely together with our purveyors is another key element of our business approach. Since they are new to the market, our wines need some explanations to be fully enjoyed. We are committed to providing education, tools, and assistance to help customers choose the right wine for them. We look forward to many tasting events alongside retailers and restaurants.
Our business venture allowed us to reconnect with Cristina’s college roommate, Laura, who has worn different hats depending on the needs and daily crisis: from designing business cards to fixing email issues and storage constraints. But the masterpiece of her technical knowledge and creative design skills resulted in this awesome website.
Grazie Mille!
Special thanks for getting us where we are, should go to our families who had to endure daily wine conversations during family dinners, our friends for constantly having to provide feedback on new wines (maybe they should thank us?), our business mentors, and everyone who provided advice and encouragement throughout our journey. Without them, we couldn’t be where we are.
