February 14, 2014
The past few weeks have made us proud!

First Slow Wine, then Tre Bicchieri, it is not even March and we have been blessed with visits from many of our Italian producers. Cream Imports, our direct import division, started about 2-3 years ago with the hopes to discover and energize our customers and Illinois with compelling producers that share the same business philosophy as us. Although we direct import wines from many countries, our main focus is Italy. The past few weeks have shown that our hard work and growing pains have created something beautiful that you seem to appreciate and want. Thank you for your support of these wines, people and places.

Thoughts from Andy Pates on Cream Imports:

What is the future? “Endless. We will continue to discover, develop and forage top wines and estates from around the world that can compliment the incredible selections of our national import partners. The direct import model helps foster strong relationships between grower, customer and consumer with Cream being the framework to this high art of wine and food.”

What do you look for when choosing wines? “Authenticity of the people and place. We want wines that are of the highest quality and value in the category. We want wines that show a respect for tradition, but relevance to the present. We prefer to work with original wines that have a wonderfully raw and flawed personality and strive to capture time and place with integrity.”

Why is there a special focus on Italy? “All roads lead to Rome. Italy’s influence on European viticulture and wine production is without question. In my opinion, Italy has the most wine history and diversity of any country on momma Earth. Depending on where you want to take it, Italian wine (and food!) can be so wonderfully primal and simple, yet so cerebral and complex. With its countless autochthonous grape varieties, unique soil types, important terroirs and different grape growing and winemaking techniques and styles, Italy is a delicious puzzle worth your attempt at solving. I prefer the practice…lots of practice.”

What inspires you most about the Cream Imports book? What drives you? “The dedication, passion, and loyalty of our growers, producers and customers drives me. Their willingness to positively produce and support wines they believe in, even though not always the most popular, fashionable or profitable, inspires me.”

How do you keep the book fresh? “We are not looking for trends or the latest fashion. Been there, done that. Better to help create a market or category than to follow one. So with that we will continue to learn and observe in our home market as well as travel to other great food and wine cities and wine regions around the world, observing, partaking, learning and looking for shining examples of authentic, singular wines of place.”