Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/413994
56 / the tasting panel / november 2014 IN THE BIZ S outh Florida, with its cosmopolitan, multi-cultural population, is a thriving wine market. It's no surprise that onto this lucrative scene would come a new wine distributor, a new importer and a new warehouse facility. What is surprising is that a woman is heading up all these operations. Meet Anne Maryse Lopez, Managing Director of new importer Wines of Spain Inc. and new distributor Amplus Select. Anne Maryse has a long history in the wine business in her native Puerto Rico and in the U.S. I first met Anne Maryse when she was the Caribbean and Latin America Export Manager for Robert Mondavi, based in Puerto Rico, but that is just a small part of her background. She has been involved with selling Spanish and South American wines in the U.S. for much of her career, although she started out work- ing for a distributor in Puerto Rico. With this background, she was the perfect choice when Wines of Spain, Inc. came looking for someone to head up a new import company and establish a new distributorship in South Florida. As we all are well aware, it is extremely difficult for new brands from any country to obtain distribution these days. Existing distributors are seldom looking for new brands. One solution—start your own. That is just what Wines of Spain, Inc. (an association of Spanish investors) decided to do. Now, two years after starting the new distribution operation, Anne Maryse manages a portfolio of 198 wines from around the world and has a team of four salespeople and one truck. She was lucky enough to attract a top-notch wine professional from Southern Wine & Spirits to head up her sales team: Jose J. Mole, who used to head up on-premise in South Florida for SW&S. What makes Amplus Select unique? All the wines are stored in a temperature-controlled warehouse and the truck is temperature- controlled. Amplus Select is also converting part of the warehouse to a bonded warehouse that can be used by other importers to store goods until distributors pick up. When she isn't wearing her distributor/warehouse hats, Anne Maryse is busy as an importer, looking for distributors for her Spanish wine portfolio in other states, all the while calling on potential customers. Importer/distributor Anne Maryse Lopez, photo- graphed at El Carajo International Tapas & Wines in Miami. Some Producers in the Wines from Spain Portfolio A Woman with Many Hats ANNE MARYSE LOPEZ LEADS A BRIMMING BUSINESS AS IMPORTER AND DISTRIBUTOR by Cindy Deutsch / photo by Jorge Ramirez Bodegas TRUS (DO Ribera del Duero) This estate winery near Pesquera del Duero takes its name from the words Tierra- Roble-Uva-Sol (Earth- Oak-Grapes-Sun). Bodegas Nivarius (DO Rioja) The first Rioja winery that pro- duces only white wines. Oak-Grapes-Sun). Sete Bois (DO Rías Baixas ) An easy-quaffing Albariño from Spain's greenest region.