A Short Version of How I Became a Wine Importer

I remember trying a red wine for the first time. I was in my early twenties. I remember holding my breath just to get the forsaken liquid down by throat so as to be polite in front of family and guests at the dinner table. You see, I grew up in a family where wine was not a part of the meal. Being an immigrant Korean, the daily dinner table was full of condiments consisting of burning hot peppers, pungent vinegars and sesame seed oil.  All very tasty but not exactly the ingredients that beckon one to declare: “Well, with those dishes, I should go down to the cellar and retrieve a bottle of Les Amoureuse or Morgon”.  

Fast forward ten years. Cooking always has been my hobby. When I started delving into cooking the classic French dishes, the topic of wines kept coming up. It didn't take long before I was immersed in wine.  I even took a part time consulting assignment for a local wine agency. It was inevitable that the course of my life would see me choose something related to wine

Deciding to become a wine importer was easy.  I struggled for a long time with the thought of what would a wine importer represent or what does a portfolio of wines say about an importer.  I only knew what I did not want as a wine importer. The thought of chasing after hot wines of the moment never appealed to me because I personally don’t drink them and I never saw wine as fashion.   The thought of chasing after highly rated wines never appealed to me either.  It used to.  But I noticed the high scored wines simply sat in the neglected corner of my cellar.  I did not want those wines anymore.  They tended to be oaky fruit bombs. I didn’t like putting bombs in my mouth. Asking someone else to drink something I wouldn't does not sit well with me.

A Rabbit Terrine, Salad &  Charcuterie at Racines in Paris in 2007 with Artisanal Beaujolais

Then, a lightning struck across my consciousness when my wife and I took a vacation in Paris in 2007.  We somehow ended up in a series of bistros that were serving most delicious food and wine from the producers and regions that I never heard of - Ploussard, Pineau d’Anis, Trousseau, Savoie, Bugey, and Pupillon. The list went on. I must have looked like a child seeing a candy jar in a corner store for the first time because the owner Pierre Jancou at Racines, a wine bistro, poured me samples of wines to taste.  I never have forgotten that moment and the generosity of Pierre.  The name Racine Wine Imports is in honour of that man. Racine means ‘root’ or ‘to take root’ in French. 

I thought such wines must only exist in Paris. Taking a trip to New York and San Francisco was an eye-opener.  Similar wines were available there, too.  If you ever visited accessible, friendly places like Nopa or Terroirs in San Francisco or Chambers Street Wines, Balthazar or the Ten Bells in New York, you know what I mean. 

With the trips in Paris, San Francisco and New York, I was beginning to know what I wanted as a wine importer.  I wanted to represent the winegrowers who work the land responsibly, making honest wines - the wines that are pure, balanced and delicious.  The winegrowers that I believe in and can stand behind. These are the wines that my wife and I would like to drink with friends and families at a dinner table with foods.