With this episode of On The Road Edition, hosted by Stevie Kim, we meet Lia Tolaini Banville, in Stevie’s hometown of New York City. Lia is the owner of the Tolaini Estate in Tuscany and the Pala winery in Sardinia. She is also a national importer of fine wines in the United States, under the name Banville Wine Merchants, where she is a direct distributor to seven wholesale markets.
Stevie opens the conversation by asking Lia which job she prefers, being a distributor, an importer, or a winemaker and Lia responds, “it depends on the day! I love the production side, I love winemaking. Selling wine is a little more competitive, but I meet so many wonderful people doing this. I love meeting people and making friends.” Lia started the wine business in 1998 with a retail store in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. She eventually left Canada and returned to Italy to help her father on the Tolaini Estate in Tuscany.
Lia Tolaini Banville and Stevie Kim
To know more about Tolaini Estate listen to Lia’s interview for Clubhouse Ambassador’s Corner:
Ep. 1905 Scott Thomas interviews Lia Tolaini Banville | Clubhouse Ambassadors’ Corner
Lia realized Tolaini needed a route to market, so she opened Banville Wine Merchants in 2004 as an import business. Stevie asks Lia what she considers the 5 key things to know for producers who want to enter the US wine market. Lia points out that “the US market is more and more saturated with great wines, it’s the most competitive market in the world. Nobody needs more wine.” She explains that the US market is not just one market, in fact, it is a huge market, made up of smaller, diverse markets, and every state has a set of rules that is different from the other states. Using New York State as an example, Lia says, “New York itself is very diverse. There is upstate New York, the Hamptons, Manhattan. It is very diverse within the single state itself.” However, the most important factor, according to Lia, is the three tier system in the US, which includes importers, wholesalers, and retailers. This system is a federal law, so it does cover the entire country and it is very complicated.
The second thing Lia recommends to producers who want to approach the US market is to decide in advance whether they want a short term or a long term strategy. She says there are many current trends for those who have a short term strategy in mind, and just want to get in, make money, and get out. However, the wineries Banville represents all have long term strategies. She points to Cantina Terlano, who she credits as having the best Italian white wine, and whom she has been representing since 2004. “They are in it for the long run. They are consistent. It wasn’t easy selling 20 years ago, when there was not a lot of interest in expensive white wine from Northern Italy. It took a lot of time but they stuck to their message of terroir-driven, well made wines. Now the whole world appreciates Cantina Terlano.” She says that tasting the wines, explaining the philosophy, sharing the wines, telling their story is the way to build a brand. She points to the importance of the sommelier community and being part of their energy, sharing great wines with them so they grow to love and appreciate them.
Stevie asks how many wines Banville has in its portfolio and Lia estimates somewhere around 40. She started in the wine industry almost 30 years ago and Stevie asks how she thinks the industry has evolved in that time. Lia’s perception is that “today people want 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 obviously serve a purpose, but I think there’s this big divide now that wasn’t there before. People want to know the story. Even the natural wine trend, which is about drinking something healthy, what’s good for you, no chemicals, what’s actually made from grapes by people, and there’s a story there. Ultimately, we’re vineyards, we’re farmers.” She believes that the agricultural aspect of wine, the terroir, the sense of place and history all make wine exciting.
Looking at the future for Italian wines, Lia sees the potential for white wines, especially those varietals from terroirs and places that are still undiscovered by the global wine sector. She points to Sardinia, Greece, Corsica as places of opportunity and excitement for white wines. She says, “when you go somewhere that’s new, that’s at the beginning, and you become part of building that, it’s super exciting.”
On a personal note, Stevie asks how Lia manages family, work, and everything else, as a busy woman, a mother, and working with family members in the business. Lia credits new technology, especially cell phones, which keep her in touch with her kids. “Women didn’t have this before. For years, you had to pick up the phone and hope they were there. Now, text messaging is a big part of communicating and that helped me very much, staying in touch with my kids.” Lia goes on to say that she has had the full support of her three children and her husband right from the beginning, and that responsibility drove her. Her son works in finance in Canada and supports the business side of Banville, and her daughter works for the Tolaini Estate and lives with her husband and children in Tuscany. Lia’s youngest child, Alex, has been working for Banville in New York for three years. Lia calls him her “golden parachute” and hopes he will take over from her someday.
The subject of tariffs comes up and Lia says she is asked her opinion about this four times a day. She recalls Sandro Boscaini of Masi speaking at an event in Milan where he said, “We’ve seen it all, we’ve been through so much. Don’t worry about tariffs, we will survive this.” Lia agrees with this approach and says that, although she has been running her US business for over 20 years, there are people in the industry who’ve been there much longer, with consistency and focus. “Keep doing what you’re doing, make sure the wines are quality, have a clear story, make a long term strategy.”
Lia’s advice to young women who want to get into the wine industry is “it’s all about hard work. Love what you do. Be honest.” She believes there is room for women in every line of business, especially because most women are good at achieving balance, particularly women of the past few generations. She risks offending Gen Z listeners by adding “they just have another outlook and life priority,” although she recognizes that there may be less opportunities in terms of potential growth for them. She says that, following COVID, people don’t want to work anymore, which jars with her memories of her father, who immigrated to Canada and was successful because “he never slept, he worked hard. He had a seventh grade education and he built the largest privately owned trucking company in Canada. I have a lot of that in me that I learned from my dad.”
Listen to the full conversion :
Or watch it on Youtube:
