14 February, 2022
In a fit of megalomania, on the eve of my departure from Thomas’s, on 20 September, 2020, I offered him to take care of the distribution of his 2019 vintage in Germany. As the son of a sales representative, selling and marketing is in my blood in a way, and I also saw various parallels between the music and wine worlds. After my return, Thomas provided me with a small number of bottles – he had three wines on offer, two still, one finely sparkling pet nat, the grape variety was always Chenin Blanc – and simply left the rest to me. I visited the Berlin natural wine retailers that I had found via Instagram, including Sylvain Delétang, who runs the wine dealer Suff’s natural wine branch Drunk by Nature in Markthalle Neun. Sylvain knew Thomas’s band, he knew the area, the Chenin Blanc grape was still missing in his range (for him »the best white grape variety there is«), he would soon taste it with his colleagues, mais oui, and get back to me. Finally, Suff ordered beaucoup de bouteilles and was happy to report that Berlin restaurants and sommeliers loved Thomas’s wines, too.
With the tailwind that I had gained, I asked Thomas if I could also take care of sales in other countries as his agent. »Of course! Due to the pandemic there are no fairs for me to present my wines at. Go for it!« So I got to work, researched on Instagram and other winemakers’ websites and studied wine magazines such as Glou Glou, Pipette and Noble Rot. The feedback was fantastic. Thomas sent sample bottles to the importers I had selected, I then passed orders on to him. For one moment, Thomas’s wines were (or maybe some still are!) available in Denmark (via Lieu-dit), France (various shops and restaurants which Thomas takes care of himself), Germany (via Weinhandlung Suff/Drunk by Nature), Italy (handled by Thomas himself), Japan (handled by Thomas himself), Spain (via Cuvée 3000), South Korea (handled by Thomas himself) and Sweden (via Fruktstereo/Vinstereo). Since then I have been working with and for other winemakers about whom you can also read on this blog.