There are roughly 83 wine importers in New York State alone and 603 in the entire United States.  Becoming an importer and wholesaler (aka: distributor) is no small task. You first must apply for a Federal Liquor License with the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB). All wine must comply with the Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Correlations Act of 2004, as well as many other Federal regulations.

An importer is responsible for paying custom fees and taxes for all wines coming into the US. The importer is required to make sure that the wine producer is registered with the Food & Drug Administration prior to bringing their wines onto American soil. After receiving Federal approval as a registered importer, you also would need to adhere to all applicable State requirements in the State where the import business is based. As you can see, there are many “hoops” an importer must jump through before they can begin importing. It isn’t an easy business to be in, to say the least.

Given the regulatory environment one faces just to become an importer, not to mention the ongoing regulatory compliance, it takes a very special and determined person to succeed in this line of business. Which brings me to the very special and determined Melissa Monti Saunders, Founder and CEO of Communal Brands, an importer/wholesaler in New York City.

Melissa didn’t just wake up one day to find herself in the wine importing and distribution business. The road traveled was long and, at times, hard. Melissa graduated from the University of Colorado (Denver) in 1997 and majored in English literature but found herself drawn to a love of food and wine. After her studies ended, she found a way to combine her education with her culinary passion.  She moved to Florence, Italy and immersed herself in the food and wine culture she craved, while teaching English at the Instituto Americano and The London School. After two years in Italy, she decided to go back home to New York. Prior to her return, she took the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) in Rome. Soon thereafter, she was enrolled in law school at St John’s University in Queens, New York. She graduated in 2002 and passed the New York bar in 2003.

Melissa started practicing law working for a non-profit organization, Sanctuary for Families, that represented domestic violence victims. While work was fulfilling, it was nonetheless emotionally draining. To help ease her mind after a hard day’s work, she decided to pursue her love of wine and take wine classes. Melissa enrolled in the Wine and Spirits Education Trust (WSET) program – initially “more as a passion than a career.” However, she could not help but wonder how she could combine her education and experience with her passion. She soon began researching ‘wine laws’ and found that there are actual law firms dedicated to beverage practices. In 2005, she earned a job at a beverage law firm, where she learned everything she could, on how to work in the wine industry full-time.

Melissa’s brother-in-law is a winemaker in New Zealand. While working at the beverage law firm, Melissa slowly started importing a couple of hundred cases of his wine at the time and selling them to restaurants and retailers in NYC. That was her initial foray into the importing and distribution business.

Prior to starting Communal Brands, Melissa looked for a proper job in the industry to really learn the ins and outs of the business. She convinced Greg Ralston, Director of Sales and Marketing at Chateau Montelena in Napa Valley, California to hire her. Melissa managed distribution in 17 States from New York to Florida. She worked there for 2 years, traveled a lot, and learned a ton about the industry.

In 2007, Melissa took a job with a start-up company owned by a tech guy from New Zealand who was looking to import New Zealand wine exclusively in New York. She was brought in to do their compliance work, manage producer relationships, and help them get their website up and running. Melissa was getting great experience and learning the business. However, a year into her tenure, the financial crisis hit. Investors were no longer forthcoming, and the start-up’s funding dried up. Melissa had to quickly figure out her next move. It wasn’t long before she decided to start her own importing and distribution business: “I love wine, I love the business of wine, and am very entrepreneurial at heart. In 2009, I started Communal Brands.”

Melissa started with her own brand, with help from a producer from Marlborough, New Zealand. A friend of hers designed a fun label (the one with the brain) as she says: “My friend designed this label as a joke and an honor to me because I am very OCD, very detailed orientated. We originally meant to call the wine OCD but couldn’t because the TTB doesn’t allow medical terms on alcohol labels, so I decided to call it Otto’s Constant Dream (OCD).”

Through her many industry contacts, Melissa was introduced to Alpha Zeta Winery in Veneto, Italy. Melissa is fluent in Italian, has lived in Italy, so it seemed like the logical next step to have them a part of her portfolio. After adding Zeta, the portfolio grew organically from there: “It all started to grow from my passion for wine and my relationships. I was by myself and hit the ground running.” At the end of 2009 and early 2010, Melissa started building a sales team. In the Spring of 2010, she moved into an office space: “Working from home was unbearable”. The move proved to be the right one, as the company has been expanding ever since.

‘Classic Wine for Modern People’ is Communal Brands’ motto. I asked Melissa what the inspiration behind the motto was. Her response was: “Well I am a sucker for brands. Packaging, presentation, and atmosphere are things that matter to me. I taste so many wines and am presented to so many producers. It is very important to me that I can give them the whole package. It helps the brand and producers on so many levels. The producers I work with are smaller and more independent than those I’ve worked with in the past, allowing us to develop a friendship and true collaboration. Without that synergy, the relationship wouldn’t be a good fit. Ultimately, these smaller producers just don’t have the resources to market themselves without us at Communal Brands. The winemakers can focus on being farmers and making wine, and we’ll focus on the marketing and sales.”

I couldn’t help but ask Melissa what she sees as the pros and cons of being an importer today in such a highly competitive market: “The pros are that it is a fantastic industry. I love this industry for everything that it represents, from being in touch with the land, logistics, foreign currency, and down to being aware of what is hip and cool in restaurants and retail stores. We distribute in 25 States, so I am paying attention to trends and what is happening everywhere. The cons are: It is massively more challenging than anyone ever could imagine, because you must be so well-versed in so many things. In my opinion, you need to be an expert on all levels, or you are going get tripped up and unable to sustain yourself.”

As if Melissa was not busy enough, in the past 2 years, she has been challenging herself to study for the tedious Masters of Wine exam. Just to give you an idea, since 1953, only 390 individuals worldwide have been able to pass the requisite exam to earn their Masters of Wine. There are three parts to the exam: The theory, the practical (aka. blind tasting), and finally, the research paper. Melissa passed both the theory and practical parts. She must now complete a 10,000-word thesis for her research paper which she is aiming to complete by 2020.

Oh, have I mentioned that she ran the New York marathon in November 2018 while raising funds for charity?  “Running is my outlet. I would love to run another marathon.” I just want to know, when does she find time to train…?

Melissa is such an inspiration! She is super positive, knowledgeable, and resilient.

Is there anything she can’t do? To which Melissa laughed and responded: “Sit still!”

Cheers to that!

Anna