Importers play a major role
representing wineries around the world and finding importers that
specialize in Italian wines is even more exciting for myself. It
provides another venue and opportunity to find potentially smaller to
medium sized wineries in Italy here in Boston and the United States
that one may not have the opportunity to seek out unless you're
traveling throughout Italy yourself.
I came across Mariposa Fine Wine &Spirits that is based out of Boston and is owned and operated by
female wine wholesaler, Judith Fabre McDonough. It was a pleasure
meeting Judith and her dynamic, bubbly personality. Her passion and
drive to succeed demonstrate why she is proving to be a successful,
female entrepreneur in a male dominated industry not only in the
Boston area, but beyond.
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| Judith Fabre McDonough |
Prior to the establishment of Mariposa
Fine Wine & Spirits, Judith's career had previously been involved
in wine auctioning and she also had served as a sales representative
of gourmet foods. Judith reached a point in her career where she
decided it was time to just dive right in and begin her own business.
“There’s never a good time to start your own business”, Judith
states. With a passion for fine wines and food Judith started
Mariposa Fine Wine & Spirits almost 4 years ago with a motto of
“wine is sunlight, held together by water”.
Judith's specialty is in small
family-owned wine estates primarily from within Italy. One of the
first Piedmont, Calabria, Puglia, Friuli, and
Lombardy and carries twenty plus different wine labels. The wineries
she works with are a number of producers from the north to the south
of Italy that produce around 300,000 to 500,000 bottles annual
production.
Judith is also expanding her wine
portfolio to include wines from Australia and France. She currently
serves as the Brand Manager & Ambassador to the Northeast for the
Hewitson winery based in Australia.
Many folks love
Italian wines, but are only most familiar with your every day common
Italian wines that dominate the market like chianti, pinot grigio and
maybe barolo and barbaresco. Judith finds the biggest challenge for
her to be getting folks to understand Italian indigenous grapes that
no one has ever heard of. Italy is home to hundreds and thousands of
grapes and native grapes and to know them all is impossible. It can
be overwhelming for your average consumer to understand the variety
and differences available from region to region. Judith works with
boutique wine shops and restaurants that respect these lesser-known
varieties. This is when she is comforted to know that when she
discovers wine producers and experiences lesser-known grapes and
award winning wines that she loves, she can trust that the businesses
carrying her wines are selling her Italian wines into the right hands
of customers that appreciate variety and learning. It's very
important to find a wine shop with educated employees that can help
you explore these wines and bring you on a wine journey through Italy.
When I met with Judith she was also
accompanied by Livio Palmieri, whom is Chairman of the Board for
U.S.-Italy Food Technologies Inc. and has partnered with Judith for
years in the wine business. One of the pleasures that Livio and
Judith have been taking note of are how the younger generation is
moving back towards agriculture, which is obviously a big benefit and
great for the wine industry. It's important to preserve the
traditions that have carried on in many of these families for
generations. Plus, there is also a lot more organic wine growing
taking place in the vineyards and sustainable farming is getting more
attention in the marketplace than ever before by producers and
consumers around the world and in Italy. Livio spoke with me about
the younger generations within the wineries that are experimenting
and bringing more modern technologies and winemaking practices to the
Italian wineries with a focus to establish themselves with a stronger
presence in the wine market.
Judith's future goals, in addition to
expanding her importation of wines from countries like Australia and
France, will also be expanding and selling her wines on the east
coast starting with Rhode Island. So lots of exciting changes and
expansion for Mariposa Fine Wine & Spirits and hopefully you'll
have an opportunity to meet Judith at one of her events or wine
tastings one day and experience some of these unique wines of Italy.
*Pictures copyright of Mariposa Fine Wines & Spirits
