Vinifera Wine Marketing Announces New Ownership
Yountville, CA – April 28: Vinifera Wine Marketing, a California wine broker representing terroir-driven, family-owned wineries, is excited to announce new ownership: Gina Schober, owner of Sans Wine Co. and former Vinifera sales representative, has completed acquisition of Vinifera Wine Marketing following the retirement of founder Lucy Malocsay.
With more than 20 years of experience working in all aspects of the wine and hospitality industries, including eight years as a sommelier for Bacchus Management Group and the Thomas Keller Restaurant Group, Schober is uniquely poised to guide Vinifera Wine Marketing forward.
“I am thrilled to carry on the legacy of Vinifera Wine Marketing and grateful for the opportunity to build off its past success,” stated Schober. “Lucy was my mentor for over 9 years and I am proud of the fact that another strong female will continue on in her footsteps. I am so pleased with the quality of the producers in our portfolio. I love waking up every day because I get to share the stories and wines of some of the most amazing producers in the world. Our sales, operations and marketing specialists are made up of passionate, fine wine experts who inspire me on a daily basis. Stay tuned for what’s to come, this is the first of many great announcements.”
Since its founding in 1985, Lucy Malocsay built Vinifera Wine Marketing into a formidable Northern California wine brokerage with her keen focus on personal attention and customer service. Several of Vinifera Wine Marketing’s producers and sales reps have been with the company since the early days, a testament to Malocsay’s personal approach.
It was Malocsay’s engaging style that lured Gina Schober away from her position as sommelier for some of the Bay Area’s finest restaurants to become Vinifera’s Napa Valley sales representative. Under Lucy’s tutelage, Schober learned the inner workings of the broker side of the industry. Upon Malocsay’s retirement, Gina was determined to carry on the legacy.
As the new owner, Schober draws upon her years of experience as a sommelier, wine buyer, sales representative, and as a winery producer (she and her husband Jake Stover founded Sans Wine Co) to create the vision for Vinifera’s future.
Schober plans to build upon Malocsay’s legacy of customer service and personal attention, believing that hospitality is at the core of the business. Having worked on both sides of the wine fence (as a buyer and as a producer), Schober understands the unique demands of both and has centered her strategy to serve those needs. For buyers, that entails providing customer service that goes “beyond the sale,” working with buyers to ensure they have the brand stories, training materials, marketing support, and personal attention to be successful. For producers, Schober’s approach provides the individual attention, collaboration, and responsiveness boutique producers deserve that larger brokers or distributors can struggle to provide.
Vinifera Wine Marketing, under Schober’s ownership and careful eye, is expanding to offer full-state coverage, extended chain market opportunities, enhanced sales training for reps and buyers, and stronger producer partnerships, while adhering to the core values of hospitality: welcoming, personal touch, responsiveness, transparency, and honesty.
About Vinifera Wine Marketing: Since 1985, Vinifera Wine Marketing has partnered with terroir-driven, family-owned, premium wineries. Our producers are meticulous stewards of the land with deep expertise in winemaking and farming. Vintage after vintage, these winemakers produce exceptional wines that capture the essence of time, place, and varietal. Vinifera’s carefully curated portfolio offers wine buyers a diverse selection of varietals, winemaking styles, appellations, and price points – and all with great stories behind them.
About Gina Schober: Gina Schober has worked in all sectors of the wine and hospitality industries for 20 years. After spending eight years as a sommelier for Bacchus Management Group and the Thomas Keller Restaurant Group, she became the Napa Valley sales rep for Vinifera. For nearly nine years, Gina sold the Vinifera portfolio throughout the Napa Valley and in 2015, she co-founded Sans Wine Co. with her husband. SANS, the first producer of single vineyard, variety canned wines in the US, led the way for all other domestic high end canned wine labels to make their way into the market. Gina opened up distribution in 41 states for SANS and was able to take the experience as a small supplier in a large distribution network, to create a more thoughtful approach for wine wholesale with the purchase of Vinifera.
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