When you think of Italian wine, Piedmont is likely one of the first regions that comes to mind. Renowned for producing some of Italy’s most celebrated reds—Barolo and Barbaresco—this region has long been a benchmark for quality winemaking. While global wine sales have faced challenges, Italian wines continue to thrive in the U.S. market. To understand this sustained growth and what consumers are looking for, we sat down with Amy Ezrin, Partner at The Piedmont Guy, an importer dedicated exclusively to Piedmontese wines.

Ezrin walks us through the company's strategic curation of producers, the kind of support they offer their wineries, and what makes a successful importer-distributor relationship. She also shares insights into emerging trends in Piedmont wines and the challenges of navigating an evolving industry.

Edited excerpts from the interview.

The Piedmont Guy is highly focused—only representing wines from Piedmont. What’s your strategy for selecting wineries and producers?

Balance is key. We aim to represent Piedmont’s diversity, ensuring we showcase the region’s breadth without too much overlap—though, of course, we work with multiple Barolo producers! Ultimately, quality is non-negotiable. People don’t have to love every wine we represent, but they trust that if it carries The Piedmont Guy label, it’s excellent.

What key factors do you consider when evaluating a new partnership?

A guiding mantra for us has been: don’t work with jerks! We have close, familial relationships with our suppliers, which makes collaboration enjoyable and productive. Beyond that, on one hand we look for wineries that can produce enough wine with some driver SKUs and some rarer or higher-priced selections to make them attractive to our distributor network. On the other, we fall in love with small producers making transcendent wines, and when they can only give us 40 cases for the whole country we say ok, and we distribute them in 2 cases increments to 20 states and spend our profit for a couple of years on introducing these elixirs to top Piedmont Guy supporters. It’s a labor of love.

How do you help your producers stand out in a competitive U.S. market?

We’re a classic importer, meaning we don’t have our own distribution but rely on top fine-wine distributors across the country. Strong partnerships with like-minded distributors are essential. Second, we do exactly what an importer-only company needs to do: add value by being boots on the ground, promoting these wines, supporting distributors in the market, educating reps and buyers, doing events that help sell these special wines. This is also why we tend to travel a lot.

Team at The Piedmont Guy (Left to Right: Cameron Abbott, Amy Ezrin, Weston Hoard)

What trends are you seeing in the U.S. market when it comes to Italian wines, particularly from Piedmont?

Piedmont’s white wines are gaining momentum. Arneis led the charge, but we are seeing great response to Erbaluce, the crisp white of Northern Piedmont, to the true darling of the scene these days, Timorasso, a grape with amazing potential. And of course, Nebbiolo remains an essential grape—it continues to captivate new wine drinkers and lure them into the world of Italian wines. Barolo and Barbaresco are timeless appellations that have lots of wow-factor and offer great value for important occasions.

How do you educate buyers about lesser-known Piedmont varieties and promote them effectively?

We pop corks! There’s no substitute for tasting. When introducing lesser-known wines, we draw comparisons to more familiar styles, explain how they fit into a wine program, and highlight their uniqueness. Many buyers and consumers crave something new, and Piedmont offers a wealth of intriguing options beyond Barolo and Barbaresco.

Managing an import business involves logistics, distribution, and compliance. What are your biggest operational challenges?

Rising costs have been a significant factor in recent years. We work with Elenteny Imports to manage logistics and compliance, allowing us to remain nimble while benefiting from their expertise. Right now, uncertainty is the biggest challenge—we are all working as if our plans are reliable, but with the looming threat of tariffs, crashing consumer confidence, and a wobbly economy, it feels really hard to predict how this year will go.

How do you work with distributors and retailers to ensure your wines receive the right level of attention and market penetration?

Sales are always about relationships. With distributors, I watch purchasing numbers and trends throughout the year. If I see sales softening, I don’t wait until year-end to address the issue. I try to have quarterly check-ins, regularly review their inventory if I have access, and try to be helpful in guiding their focus throughout the year. Then, you try to forge relationships with key reps, and in turn with key accounts. Many importers jump through hoops with programs and force that focus, or they try to cajole with allocations of cult wines. We’d rather guide distributors to see opportunities and help them identify the end client. 

As digital presence becomes increasingly important, how does The Piedmont Guy leverage online marketing and storytelling?

We maintain a high-quality but understated presence on Instagram and have a content-rich website. Most of our storytelling happens in real life—our team travels extensively, sharing these wines firsthand. We don’t do direct-to-consumer sales, but we strongly advocate for more open interstate shipping laws, so that retailers across the country could freely sell our wines to desirous customers. No one is shipping Meiomi or Josh Cab across state lines. But a Gattinara of which we have 20 cases nationwide would really benefit from an open market.

The wine industry has traditionally been male-dominated. How do you see the role of women evolving, particularly in leadership and importation?

There are now many women in this industry, which is fantastic. It is certainly changing and I think it’s a much more productive and rewarding environment for women these days. That said, there’s still a lack of women in executive leadership and ownership roles. I hope to see this shift as the talented women in this business continue rising. That said, I believe us women can do more to support each other. I constantly remind myself to be extra kind and available to young women I meet in this industry just so that they feel supported. I really hope that younger women who meet me feel like I'm someone they could ask for advice and not someone judging them. I also challenge female buyers to consider when they last went out of their way to support a female sales rep? There’s a lot of good wine out there and often the choice between 2 wines of equivalent quality comes down to personal relationships. I’d like to see more women go that extra step to help a sister out. Wine karma has a way of really working out

Amy Ezrin

As the partner of The Piedmont Guy, do you have a checklist or criteria that a wine must meet before you bring it into your portfolio?

It really depends on what we’re trying to achieve with the addition. We’re mindful not to grow too large, both to maintain focus and quality. Plus, we work with a network of over 40 distributors across different states, and they all have extensive portfolios. Part of our value is offering a well-curated selection—enough variety, but never too much. There’s only so much attention you can ask for.

Every wine we add has to serve a clear purpose. I’d say there are two main categories: one is volume-driven wine, where we plan to sell significant quantities, even though we’re a small company that works in smaller-scale production. In this case, the winery needs to offer wines at a strong value, knowing that working with a national importer like us means they might make less per bottle. But in return, they gain access to top-tier distributors across 45 states, widespread promotion, and dedicated support.

The second category includes more specialized or high-end wines. Take, for example, a recent Barolo producer we brought in. We already had a couple of Barolo producers, so we had to be strategic. What made this one unique? It was from a village we didn’t yet represent, it had an entry-level wine that was both rare and competitively priced, and it offered a Barolo at a price point that made it viable for by-the-glass pours or retail shelves under $50. That balance between accessibility and prestige made it a smart addition.

Regardless of category, quality is non-negotiable. Every wine in our book has to stand up to our reputation. People don’t have to love every wine we carry, but they won’t be able to say a bad word about the quality. That’s a rare thing, and it’s something we take seriously.

Have you ever taken a chance on a wine that didn’t perform well in the market? How did you handle that situation?

It doesn’t happen often, but when it does, every situation is unique. We’re good at what we do—making sure we can pay for what we buy, knowing how to promote wines, and ensuring they’re positioned well. When something doesn’t work out, it’s usually because the winery itself has undergone changes that made us no longer the right fit. Not every partnership is "till death do us part," and sometimes there’s a natural fork in the road.

In some cases, a winery needed to shift its pricing structure in a way that no longer aligned with our model. In others, the business changed hands or faced financial struggles, which had nothing to do with us but ultimately meant parting ways. When that happens, our approach is to sell down our remaining stock, which can be frustrating because launching a new brand takes time and effort.

That’s also why we’re so selective about adding new wines to our portfolio. It’s a long game. When we introduce a new brand, we don’t expect it to be in all 40+ states immediately. It might start in four or five states in the first year, then expand to 10, then 15. The key to long-term success is a slow, steady, and sustainable rollout.

You mentioned that you work with over 40 distributors across the country, but The Piedmont Guy follows a lean business model. Given that you have fewer hands on deck, how do you balance the demands of the market while supporting your distributors?

Honestly, I’m not sure "balance" is the right word! We’re all traveling constantly. At the pace we’re moving, I suspect we’ll need to hire at least one more person for sales and distributor support. Because we work in such a niche and the industry is so knowledge-intensive, finding the right fit isn’t easy, but growth seems inevitable.

For now, we prioritize being as strategic as possible with our time. We focus on the markets that need us most and structure our travel accordingly. For example, this month, I’m on the road nearly every week—Florida, North Carolina, Connecticut, Texas. But in July, I won’t be traveling for market work at all. It’s about packing it in when needed and making sure we’re maximizing impact.

You mentioned that part of your role is educating buyers. What kind of initiatives does The Piedmont Guy take to support that—tastings, pop-ups, or something else?

We’re very grassroots in our approach. When we visit markets, we try to meet with as many key buyers as possible to taste with them and educate both the buyers and the sales reps we work with. The reps are crucial because they’re the ones selling our wines every day. If they remember our wines and feel confident about them, that’s a win.

We do tastings, seminars, and sometimes lunches—it really depends on the market and the distributor. Wine shops often invite their customers to tastings where I’ll walk them through the wines, giving them a deeper understanding of what they’re drinking. The more knowledge we can share, the better equipped people are to appreciate and sell the wines.