Miami-Based Importer Ethica Expanding In Italy’s Upscale Tier
August 16, 2024Miami-based importer Ethica Wines is carving out a growing niche in the U.S. market’s Italian wine category, with volume expected to reach 1.2 million cases this year and sales projected at $114 million. Ethica has steadily expanded its range to cover each of the key regions of Italy, including Tuscany, Piedmont, and the Veneto among others, and continues to branch out with new producers joining the ranks. Its main distribution partners include Southern Glazer’s, RNDC, Johnson Brothers, M.S. Walker, and a network of mid-sized wholesalers throughout the country.
Most recently, Ethica has added San Marzano ($15-$39 a bottle) from Puglia and Mastroberardino ($15-$100) from Campania to its range. The Southern Italian duo combine for about 30,000 cases in the U.S. Mastroberardino’s Taurasi Radici Riserva 2016 ranked fifth among Wine Spectator’s Top 100 Wines of 2023. At the beginning of the year, Ethica also added Casanova di Neri, known for Brunello di Montalcino, with a portfolio selling from $38-$400 a bottle.
The newcomers join an Ethica stable that’s seen strong growth lately from brands like La Gioiosa Prosecco—up 18% to 99,000 cases last year, according to Impact Databank—and Lavis from the Trentino region, which grew 16% to 52,000 cases. Other rising labels in the range include Villa Sparina in the Gavi appellation and Cafaggio, known for Chianti Classico, which finished last year at 62,000 cases and 60,000 cases respectively. The portfolio also includes Italian producers such as Borgogno, Cordero di Montezemolo, Anselmi, Fattoria Le Pupille, Ca’ dei Frati, Mirafiore, Ridolfi, Movia, and Pico Maccario, among others.
“All of the new additions are helping us grow, but we’re also seeing organic growth,” Ethica founder and CEO Francesco Ganz tells SND. “We’ve opened the company up to the off-trade more than we did before, reorganizing our sales team to work on a multichannel basis. It’s still on-trade specialized, but we’re now also dealing with quality retail chains, the ones that pay a lot of attention to wine assortment on the shelf.”
Ganz adds that Ethica will continue to scout opportunities to enter new Italian regions in which the company isn’t represented, but will wait to find the right partner. In the meantime, the company has linked with northeast Italy’s Canella winery to enter the RTD segment with high-quality versions of Italian-centric drinks like Bellinis and Mimosas, which Ganz says are priced at roughly double the category average.
While acknowledging a general trend of “contraction” among wine consumers in the short term, Ganz says drinkers continue to be interested to explore new offerings. “I’m positive on the wine business in general,” he says, especially at the mid and higher price tiers. “The mainstream and lower priced wines will be affected more in the future by the contraction of consumption. The wines with strong heritage and quality will continue to be in demand.”—Daniel Marsteller
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