Interview, Part 2: Wilson Daniels President Rocco Lombardo

In the second part of our interview, Wilson Daniels president Rocco Lombardo discusses new portfolio developments at the company, which has revenues approaching $270 million, progress in its five-state wholesale footprint, and the business outlook for 2024.

SND: How do you see the overall climate for wine developing in 2024?

Lombardo: We’ve had two decades from 2000 to 2020 where the wine market saw sizable growth, and I believe the last three years, 21, 22, and 23, are a pause. I’d be naive to think that the downward pressure on the wine segment wouldn’t impact our business, and we’re focused on continuing to grow our market share.

We’re seeing a changing environment since the pandemic. There’s been a migration from New York to southern markets like North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and from the Midwest and West markets like Illinois and California to areas like Texas, Tennessee, and Arizona, and we’re seeing continued growth in many of those states in the South.

The businesses in traditional areas such as New York, Illinois, and California are stable, but not seeing the growth that those newly developing markets are. In general the economy has proven very resilient, but we know everything is cyclical. We’re cautiously optimistic because of our positioning and the strength of our portfolio.

SND: Do you expect to add more producers to the national portfolio in the near term?

Lombardo: In addition to Gaja and Faiveley, we’ve also recently added Domaine de Nozay from Sancerre and Composition from the Willamette Valley in Oregon, which is a project by Bertrand de Villaine. And we also launched Jonive, a new project of the Underwood family in the Sebastopol Hills of the Russian River Valley. So now our focus is really on establishing these new entries with our wholesale and trade partners.

SND: How is the wholesale business performing?

Lombardo: Our wholesale businesses (New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Washington, and Oregon) exceed $100 million and they represent 40% of our turnover. It’s now sustainable growth both on the East and West Coasts.

SND: Are you interested in further wholesale expansion?

Lombardo: Right now we’re very pleased with the five states in which we wholesale. We’re not looking to expand that footprint. It was critical to our development eight years ago to have control on the East Coast, especially in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. With our distribution, it really established a much stronger visibility for Wilson Daniels and our portfolio, and our depletions in the tri-state area have grown tenfold over that period of time.

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