Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/133302
MILESTONE Milo has 44 years in the industry, and 20 of them directly with Southern. Brennan tasked him and Allen to make sure the finest of the fine wine clientele were getting the service they needed. "Southern was seen as the 'big bad boy'," Milo said, and he had to make sure that the specialty producers got some love, too. These days Allen is the fine wine "fixer" for all of Southern. He helps clients identify problems and rectify them, and he makes it rain with new partnerships, as well. "When American Wine & Spirits started, my dream was to have a modest, effective, bespoke fine wine distributor to take the lead in California," Allen said. AWS has accomplished all these things as it has also become the largest fine wine wholesaler in the United States. "I'm so happy we completed what we wanted to do," Allen said. "We served the needs of these people who in many cases didn't know how to go to market—they know how to make wine, Jim Allen As Senior Vice President for Fine Wine at Southern/American Wine & Spirits, Jim Allen is always looking for partners and markets. He's on the move, making new connections and reaffirming old ones. He casts a wide net, so maybe it's not surprising to learn that he started his professional life in the merchant marine, moving from port to port. Southern recruited Allen to become its Regional Sales Manager for Southern Florida in 1978. He created an on-premise division, playing to his already strong relationships with the clubs and restaurants. Then it was on to new markets again. He came to California along with Jack Brennan in 1984, and the two of them were instrumental in exponentially expanding Southern's business. They were new to the market, and the competition was fierce, but they worked hard, and they innovated. Maybe the most critical advancement was a statewide wholesaling operation. Prior to their initiative, various wholesalers serviced each area of the state, but Southern had the vision to offer a one-stop service to clients interested in reaching the broader market. They got one brand to buy into their plan, and others soon followed. But it wasn't enough to just service the chain companies. As Allen says, "We had to go get the little guys in the street, too," and that meant even more work. "We were very, very busy," he says. So busy, in fact, that in one furious burst of activity, Allen had to hire and train the entire staff in 90 days. The company was taking off, and it had the foresight to put people where they were needed. But that growth led to new challenges. Some of Southern's smaller clients were getting nervous as the company got so big, fearing that they would be overlooked. So it was decided that a new company would focus on the wineries and smaller imports that feared being left in the dust. American Wine & Spirits was born. "I started with a small group of people in Southern California," Allen said. "Of course, we subsequently hired good people to manage it, north and south." Joe Milo was one of those guys. Milo and Allen were there at the beginning of American in 1993, and they are both still thriving. Milo is VP/Import Manager at American in Northern CA, and he brings international wine to an already strong domestic market. "But you'd be surprised how much European wine is sold in Northern California, right in the heart of wine country," Milo says. PHOTO: ANNE WATSON The Northern CA management team: David Gainza, VP/General Manager for Sales at American Wine & Spirits; Jean-Luc Hitta, French Wine Manager, Northern California and Director of Bordeaux; Joe Milo, Director of Import Sales and Adam Book, VP of Sales, Northern California. Groth Vineyards Winemaker Michael Weis brings more than three decades of experience with Oakville grapes to a Story Time seminar. but maybe not to serve the on-premise market, to service the chains. We continue to focus on that, continue to grow our business." David Gainza is Vice President and General Manager for Sales at American in the North, and he sees growth 54 / the tasting panel / june 2013 TP0613_042-79.indd 54 5/23/13 4:33 PM