Ep 2389 Lia Tolaini Banville of Banville Wine Merchants | On the Road with Stevie Kim

So I know you don't have a crystal wall. You know, you're not the nostradamus. However, what are your predictions in terms of there's a lot of talk about the tariffs right now potentially? Yep. What are your thoughts on on that? This is a question that I've asked four or five times a day. Right? Okay. So You're ready with the answer. But it's something that's in everybody's mind. Right? I think that's the issue. And I think, you know, do you remember when we were at the event in Milan, Danielleie Trnelie's event? Mhmm. And Sandra, I think it was Sandra Amy that stood up and said, you know, we've seen it all. We've been through so much. Don't worry that we will survive all of this. And I think that says it all. You know what? We've been I think it was Pierre always said that. Oh, maybe it was Pearl. Sorry. I may have become the quote wrong, but think everybody in the room, a light bulb came on, and it's, yeah, you know, we haven't been doing this for twenty years. They've been doing this for a long time. I think that in the US, the biggest word is consistency. Welcome to another episode of On The Road Edition, hosted by Stevie Kim. Each week, Stevie travels to incredible wine destinations interviewing some of the Italian wine scene's most interesting personalities, talking about wines, the foods, as well as the incredible travel destinations. Hello. My name's Stevie Kim, and welcome to the Italian wine podcast on the road edition, and we are in New York City, my hometown, the big apple. And next to me, we have Leah Tolaini Vanville. Leah, for those of us who are less familiar for our audience, can you just tell us who you are? How would you describe yourself? How would I describe myself? Well, I would describe myself as I'm a winery owner in Tuscany. And, as of late, brand new project. That's not a new project, old project, Palla in Sardinia. So I own two wineries, and I'm an importer, a national importer in the United States of Fine wine. And we have seven wholesale markets where we are a direct distributor. So if you were to choose, like, as being an importer or a wine producer, which is more the, tolaini Vanville. Depends on the day. Okay. It depends on the day. I love the production side, winemaking. It's for me an amazing part of wine, selling it as a little more competitive, but there's so many wonderful people that you meet doing this. I love meeting people. I love making friends. So that's not on the production side as much as it is. When when did you start this entire business? When did you start with the wine business? The wine business, I started in nineteen ninety eight with a retail store in Winnipeg Manitoba Canada. Nineteen ninety eight. Ninety eight. Okay. And I left there then I started helping my father in Tuscany because at that same time, he started Talania States. And then we realized we needed a route to market. So I opened Bamboo wine merchants in two thousand and four. So in a way, you started the the import business because you needed to. Absolutely. Okay. Well, there you go. You talk about vertical integration. This is the key model right here. So I guess what we would like to do with you today is very simple for those who are interested in entering the US market, what are the five must things they need to know about approaching the US wine market. That's very, very big loaded question. Yes. We have some time. We have some time. You know, it's getting more and more difficult. The market is more and more saturated with great wines. It's the most competitive market in the world. You know, nobody needs more wine. Right? So if you're gonna come to the US market, I think you need to understand that it's not one market. It's a very, very diverse market. It's a huge market made up of smaller markets. Every state has a set of rules then they're all different. None of them are the same. And if you just think of New York state, New York itself is very diverse. You think of upstate New York or the Hampton's or Manhattan. So it's very diverse even within states. But the most important thing is it's a three tier market. Right? So there's an importer, then there's the wholesale level, and then there's the retail restaurant level. So this is a law across the country. This is one thing that is, you know, a federal law. So it makes it very, very complicated. Proaching US market, the number two thing once you understand that is also understanding if you wanna have a long term strategy or if you wanna have a short term strategy. If you wanna get in, make money, get out, you know, there's lots of trends. But who doesn't want to get in make money and get the hell out? Well, you know, one that comes to mind would be Tylenia States. I mean, we have a long term strategy. All the wineries that we represent are long term. They're in it. They've been consistent let's take Cantina Turlano, you know, one of the best, if not the best white wine producer, started with them in two thousand and four, and it wasn't easy selling. In twenty years ago. Yeah. Expensive white wine from Northern Italy, people were, you know, just wasn't took a lot of time for them to and they've stuck to their message. Right? Why is their message, for example? Teroir wines, well made. They are been doing this since eighteen ninety three. But they've been making wines the same way for this long. And I think that the whole world now understands and appreciates Cantina Turlano. I mean, again, twenty years ago, it was more difficult now. We don't have enough wine. The wines are the highest scoring most expensive white wines, family. And we can't keep them. And they're, you know, basically on premise high end. And I think that's a success rate in twenty years because if twenty years ago, you know, I fell in love with Carolina, if someone said to me, oh, in twenty years, this is gonna be one of Italy's best wineries. I believe that, but it it did. It took probably ten years. I think, you know, of tasting the wines, explaining the philosophy, telling the story, That's how you build a brand. You know, there's a Somalier community here that there's an energy and being part of that when you have great wines and they love them and they appreciate them. It's a big part of building a brand. So how many Italian wineries do you have in your portfolio? That's a really good question. Probably thirty, thirty five, forty. Yeah. Both that now looks over there's Have you got any have you got any, forty, forty, about forty wineries? So over the, I mean, so you've started nearly thirty years ago. How has the wine market evolved? In these thirty years. You know, I think that today, I feel that people want to be able to put their finger on a map and say, I'm drinking a wine that's made by these people in this place. I think that that is the value. There's a lot of more commercial brands, bigger labels that's obviously serve a purpose, but I think there's this big divide now that wasn't there so much. People wanna know the story. Like, even the natural wine trend, it was about, you know, drinking something healthy. So they're, you know, what's good for you? Yeah. That's real. What's authentic? Right. You know, no chemicals. What what's actually made from grapes by people, and there's a story there that of, you know, Ultimately, we're vineyards. We're farmers. Right? And that's cool. I think that all the work that goes into making a wine, we just don't open a tap when the wine fills a bottle. Right? The whole agricultural part of it, terroir, where this is from, the history, the pedigree. I think that's what makes wine so exciting. So of course you've been, you know, a long time distributor for, Delano, which is a, you know, white wine, an ageable white wine that is. View yourself as personally you are you are red wine. Right? Until recently. That's right. And is that because you think there is a future for Italian wines? Yes. I think specifically Italian white wines right now, there's so many, not only varietals, but places tar wars that are yet to be discovered, and I really believe Sardinia is at the forefront of that. You know, I we're hearing more about the wines from Greece, Corsica, the Olin Islands. I think that Sardinia is a part of that, and I'm really excited there's more opportunity. And that's what's exciting, right? When you go somewhere that's new that's at the beginning and be a part of the building of that. It's super exciting. So on a personal note before we close, how do you as a woman, you know, manage family and work and everything else or because I know some of your family members are in the business. Mhmm. But how did you manage working full time and being also a mom? Well, I have to say that new technology having cell phones was very important because I could be in touch my kids, which I think something, you know, women years before couldn't. You had to pick up the phone, hope they were there. Now with text messaging, that was a big part of communicating. And I do believe that that helped me stay very much in touch with my kids. Maybe they even tell you more on the phone than they do. You know, text message, and then they do if you're sitting at the dinner table. It wasn't easy, but I loved. My family is obviously very important to me. The first ten years of Vanville. I went back and forth from New York, and it was a six hour trip because I didn't live in New York. But No. From Canada. From Canada. Yeah. It was the main in Canada. So I did a lot of traveling and my kids supported me. Emma husband. Everybody was rooting for me. They I think it was also good for them because they were much more responsible. I think they didn't want to be not to say distraction, but they were part of helping me build my business. And they were very proud of me. They'd always say, mom, this is so great, mom, this is so wonderful. You can't do it unless you have support like that. And you've got three children. Right? I have three. And are they all in the family business? Alex, the youngest is twenty eight. I know Alex. Yep. He's living in New York. He's been here three years now. He spent most of his time at the winery in the summers all of his life. So, yes, Alex is definitely in the business, and he's, calling my golden parachute because when I'm a hundred and four, I'm maybe not wanting to do this full time anymore. I'm hoping he'll be old enough to be able to take over. My daughter, Alicia, her and her family are now living in Italy, They Oh, they live in Italy. Yeah. They moved to Italy in September. Kids are going to school. They love it. They're gonna stay and do another year. And I wouldn't be surprised if they stay longer. So she's at the winery and she's getting a full immersion. Oh, in Siena? Yeah. They're going to school in Siena. And my oldest is in finance. He works in Canada for RBC, Dominican Security. He has his own business and wealth management, but he's obviously instrumental on the whole business side of things. Right? I have Simone Luketi, who's a president of Bamboo, who you know, is obviously a very integral part of the success of this business and having very smart financial people because wine is fun. It's great, but the numbers need to add up, right, the business part. So I know you don't have the wall. You know, you're not the nostradamus. However, what are your predictions in terms of? There's a lot of talk about the tariffs right now potentially. Yep. What are your thoughts on on that? This is a question that I've asked four or five times a day. Right? Okay. So You're ready with the answer. But it's something that's in everybody's mind. Right? I think that's the issue. And I think, you know, do you remember when we were at the event in Milan Daneli's event and Sandra. I think it was Sandra Boscagini that stood up and said, you know, we've seen it all. We've been through so much. Don't worry that we will survive all of this. And I think that says it all. You know what? We've been I think it was Pierre always said that. Oh, it was Pier. Sorry. I may have got the quote wrong, but think everybody in the room, a light bulb came on, and it's, yeah, you know, we haven't been doing this for twenty years. They've been doing this for a long time. I think that in the US, the biggest word is consistency, right? Consistency and focus. Keep doing what you're doing, make sure the wines are quality, that you have a story that's clear, and you believe in what you're doing, make a long term strategy sounds easy. Right? That's already a lot. What about for young women who are out there thinking about broaching the wine industry. What advice would you have for them? You know what? I, Thursday night was that was some very dynamic, cool, smart, hardworking women. And it's the same advice I give to everybody. It's all about hard work. Love what you do. Be honest. You know, the same advice for everyone. I think that there's lots of room in every business for women. I think that we are able to balance a lot of things. I don't know. Obviously, that's my own reality, but but do you don't you think that's like, you know, our generation you know, the school of thought. Maybe. You know, I'm going to offend a lot of gen z's out there, but I think they just have another outlook and live priority. For sure. I mean, I think they are having been in their defense. I think there are less opportunities for them. You know, but Maybe. In terms of growth, potential growth, but I think at the same time after COVID especially, people don't want to work hard anymore. Oh, you were absolutely right. And that's the difference. I mean, my father immigrated to Canada and was successful. Because he didn't sleep. He worked hard. Yeah. He has a grade seven education and and built, you know, an important trucking company in Canada, the largest privately owned trucking company in Canada. And it he's always said it was because he worked very hard. Made lots of mistakes, got up the next day, and, you know, just upwards and onwards. And, obviously, I think I have a bit of that learned from my dad. My kids too, you know, sleeping is not a big part of what I do. I always say sleep is, you know, overrated and I can sleep when I'm dead. Right? That's exactly what I was gonna say. Exactly. I mean, I'm exhausted today because I've had a tough week. No, but I But I'm loving it. I think it's I think it's a generation thing. I'm really serious, but also, you know, Korean American, you know, very I think you're right. And follow-up, you know, it's one thing to say you wanna do this, but then, on the plan. Like you could dream this stuff all day long, but it's about the execution. Make steps, make a road map, check it off. I mean it's it's basic, but you're right. Sometimes there's some obstacles and people just go, yeah, don't want. When I get irritated with my daughter, my one daughter, I always say, yes, she'd love to save the world, but with my credit card. Yes. That kind of Okay. And I think with that, we need to wrap. So from New York City, Vanville wine merchants, Thank you for hosting. Thank you, sweetie. And always happy to promote wine education, Italian specifically. Obviously, that's the hard what we do. So thank you very much for for doing this. Thank you for joining us on another episode of on the road edition hosted by Stevie Kim. Join her again next week for more interesting content on the Italian wine scene. You can also find us at italian wine podcast dot com or wherever you get your pods. You can check out our YouTube channel, Mama jumbo shrimp, to watch these interviews, and the footage captured at each location. Changing.