CA Distribution

I’m looking for some representation and am interested in a group that does well with small brands. Any ideas? Thanks.

When you’re talking about California distribution you really have to consider it as two different states - north and south. There are a few companies that cover both but they’re generally not the best people to handle a small brand. Speaking just about the north - where my shop is located - Tom Elliot of Northwest Wines (based in San Francisco) is by far the best representative of wines from Oregon. Other people I’d consider would be Estate Wines (the small San Rafael-based company, not the division of Young’s Market Co.) - you could ask Maggie Harrison how they’re doing with Antica Terra - and then Swirl, Epic Wines and Springboard.

You know, of course, that this is an extremely difficult time to find a wholesaler. No one is coming close to doing a good job for the brands they already carry, so taking on someone new isn’t on the agenda.

Good luck in your search and feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Actually, you might consider CA to be 3, or maybe 4 states.

We’re with Swirl in the San Francisco area. They cover Monterey to Napa, SF to Tahoe (inc Sacramento). They’re a broker as oppossed to being a distributor, so I’m not sure if they can actually sell your wine since you (probably) don’t have a CA ABC license. We like them a lot.

We’re with J&L in the Central Coast and Central Valley areas. Paso Robles to Ventura, and Bakersfield and Fresno. The “L” in J&L is Lorraine Alban, John Alban’s wife. They do a really good job.

In LA and OC we’re with Golden State Wines. Mike Miller owns one of the 2 big distribution warehouses in SoCal (ABX). He does mostly imported wines, but has done about the best job of any of our nationwide distributors the past couple of years.

We’re with R&R in San Diego. Rob Rubin is another guy doing a great job for us. Very aggressive.

I’m not sure that any of them are looking right now, but I’d recommend each of them. Contact info is on our website under Distributor List.