#usatt2018

USA Trade Tasting interviews Testa Wines of the World, a small to medium sized wine importer,  based in New York. The company has been a family-owned business since 1962 and represents over a dozen wine producers from around the world in markets across the U.S. With nearly five decades of trade experience, Testa’s Owner Deborah Rouhana Lane has gained valuable insights on key variables for business success and ways to manage them. Recently, Ms. Lane shared her experiences on the challenges facing small/mid-sized importers and some ways to overcome them.

About Testa Wines:

Testa Wines was purchased in 1962, as a family owned business. It continues to this day as such, under second and third generation management.

Testa Wines has been in existence since the repeal of prohibition, when Camilo Testa received one of the first licenses in NY.

When Bill Rouhana purchased the company in 1962, it was actually a winery. The wine was purchased in bulk from California producers like Mondavi and bottled here under our own labels. Bill bought the company without any money and sold the entire inventory and the winery equipment to pay the Testa family for the business. Bill decided to focus the business on importing and distributing wines. With a reputation and relationships from his years as an accountant at Transamerica, Bill was able to build his business on a very limited budget. He started as a distributor for Bolla, Ruffino and Moet.

Over the course of many years, Testa Wines and other small distributors worked to introduce and develop many of the well-known brands in today’s market.

Hard work, good relationships, great wines and a ‘little help from our friends’ has not only helped us to survive, but has enabled us to take the company in a whole new direction. We became more focused on finding “hidden gems”, and getting back to our roots of Building Brands. We love working with small family wineries that put their passion, pride and heritage into the bottle.

When one is pondering the possibility of attending a wine conference, they think about if their time and money will be worth it. What will be the quality of the presentations? Will they gain anything of value from it?

In an industry like ours, wine conferences are one of the best opportunities to take your game to the next level. One can meet experts and influencers face to face, where they can get answers to their questions and guidance from industry veterans. They can also listen to how successful businessman did it; the tips, techniques and tricks they used to get ahead.

In our busy schedules, we often forget the importance of being in a live face-to-face setting with others from the wine business community. Wine conferences present you with the opportunity to share new ideas with fellow professionals. You also encounter new vendors, suppliers, importers, distributors and retailers.

Attending a wine conference can drive business relationships and heighten your knowledge of running your wine business successfully.

For your perusal, listed below are the top 20 wine conferences taking place around the world.

 1.    Eastern Winery Exposition

2.    USA Trade Tasting and Business Conference (USATT)

3.    International Bulk Wine and Spirits Show (IBWS SHOW)

4.    Wine Marketing & Tourism Conference

5.    Wine Industry Technology Symposium

6.    Wine2Wine Conference

7.    Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference (AWITC)

8.    International Wine Tourism Conference – IWINETC

9.    Unified Wine & Grape Symposium

10.  WSWA Convention

11.  Wine Vision Conference

12.  Romeo Bragato National Conference

13.  World Wine Meetings – Barcelona

14.  International Cool Climate Wine Symposium

15.  SOMM Summit – International Wine & Spirits Symposium

16.  Meininger’s International Wine Conference

17.  Digital Wine Communication Conference

18.  London Wine Fair

19.  Hong Kong International Wine & Spirits Fair

20.  WIVI central coast Wine Conference