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About Us

about us

We are not all alike… We don’t dress the same. We have many different mother languages. We don’t listen to the same music, and we come from all over the world, from all walks of life… but we all love history, a great story, to travel and discover and the beauty of the culture of the ‘table.’ We love to laugh, yeah, at times we can get loud. We care immensely about one another and our producers. We are a family. We love our clients. Then… Wine… we love wine.

Christian troy

Partner, California Portfolio Manager

I am a father and husband, a son/brother, a friend, and a wine professional (in that order). Although I may be classified as a rep, or a suit, or a salesman, I’ve never considered myself any of those. I am a storyteller.


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After 13 years in wholesale wine, having sold everything there is to sell, for companies and importers both enormous and teeny, I came to find myself most excited in telling the stories of the small, unknown, grower making wines of amazing quality, incredible value, and most importantly- soul. Honest wines.

Summer Wolff

Founder, European Portfolio Manager

Born in the Finger lakes, I grew up both among the lakes of upstate, and the beaches of the end of Long Island, before the Hamptons became the cramptons.  I ‘found’ wine in 1998 when I was studying in Florence Italy during my junior year at CU Boulder.


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 A friends dad treated us to a real dinner, after living on chianti, pizza and pasta for 5 months he thought we might want to taste some real Italian wine and cuisine.  I watched in awe as the waiter brought a vintage Brunello, decanted it table side, and then left it to ‘breath’ for our first courses.  I had never seen anything quite like that, and then once I got my first sip… that was it.  I was wisked away.  I have been working with wine in one way or another ever since.  

From restaurants in Boulder CO, I moved briefly to Charleston South Carolina where I took over my first wine list, then to Blue Fin in Times Square NY as an assistant Sommelier, to Tellers on Long Island as Wine Director/Sommelier. Whilst at Tellers I asked one of my favorite Italian producers to host me for the 2004 harvest so I could learn more about wine making. After the harvest, they asked me to stay on to take care of Public Relations, and a bit of their international marketing. I stayed for more than a year on the estate, and returned to NY the following fall where I started working for Sokolin.

After two years with Sokolin, Italy came calling again in the shape of Amy Wadman at diVino Tours, an experience that had me help create custom itineraries for wine and gourmet travel all over Italy. 

Over the years, whether in Tuscany, Long Island, or NYC, I have been fortunate enough to discover numerous hidden gems, small boutique wineries making wines in harmony with nature, many using either organic or biodynamic methods.

In 2009 I decided to call these producers Indie Wineries and started looking to find homes for them in the US. These wines have soul, they are alive and are full of charming and unique personalities and represent the antithesis of the mass produced wines that unfortunately saturate the market. They are the wines that have inspired the birth of my passion project, ‘Indie Wineries’.

Indie Wineries are all artisanal, sometimes natural and biodynamic, always organic, handcrafted terroir-driven wines.  These wines often represent the wine maker him or herself… and so getting to know the person behind the wine is just as important as getting to know the wines themselves.
My mission is to share with you the wines, and introduce you to the artists and estates behind the wines that make our eyes light up, that ‘wow’ us, that inspire us to learn more, and that keep us on a constant and fascinating journey in the world of wine. I hope you enjoy the ride!

Valeria Urbani Grecchi

COO Italian Office, Import Logistics

Born and raised to be a problem solver I’ve worked for many different companies, always tasked with general management/operations type of jobs.Exchange student at El Segundo High School, California in 1982-83 I often came back to the United States


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to study (Duke) and to see family and friends. It was not until the beginning of this century that I have approached the wine world through Summer Wolff, my next door neighbor in the small village of Montaldo in Piedmont, Italy. A new world of honesty, enthusiasm and love for their craft has immediately overwhelmed me. I felt then and am proud now to be part of Indie Wineries and represent and work for these amazing producers. It has been 4 years now and it gets more exciting every day as the family grows bigger all around the world.

Clarisse Caillé

European Logistics & French Portfolio Assistant

Almost born in a cement tank of Muscadet, the day after harvest season was over it was only natural for Clarisse to follow her father in wine.


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Meeting his colleagues and friends of the wine world, translating e-mails into English for her parents, she got to know Indie Wineries and had always stayed in touch. After completing two internships with Indie Wineries, for her studies she’s officially on board in France, ready to discover new hidden gems and learn more about French wine culture.

Katherine Olivares

Operations Manager & Chilean Portfolio Manager

Coming from a strong Chilean background has allowed me to evolve a great passion and acknowledgement for Chilean Wine throughout my childhood. I knew I wanted to learn more about it and what my country had to offer along with getting a better feel for wines


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 around the globe. My first wine experience was working at a local wine bar in Miami. I was exposed to over 800 different wines, along with building connections with different Sales Reps, Exporters, Wine Makers, etc.  After working there for a year, I knew the next step was to obtain an understanding for the business aspect of the industry. I then moved onto working for one of the bigger Wine & Spirits importers and distributors in South Florida.  Shortly after, I moved back to NY and that was when I gratefully stumbled upon Indie. I have learned a completely different side of the wine world, and there is only so much more to learn from Indie!

I can happily admit that joining the Indie team exposed me to natural/Indie style wines. Living in Miami for the past 5 years only exposed me to the “Commercialized” wines. I am truly grateful to be working for a company that I fully support and admire.

Kristen Smart

Wine Consultant – New York

I grew up on the beaches of Delaware as well as several hours from the Gulf Coast in southern Mississippi. Then I headed north, to Vermont. While studying at Middlebury, I spent a semester abroad in Paris. It was there that I realized my love for wine. We had no idea what we were drinking; we drank a lot of rosé. After college, I moved to Thailand for a couple of years (where I traded in wine for SangSom and Singha).


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I worked for an international school and spent most of my time kayaking and hiking with our visiting students. After working and traveling around South East Asia, I returned to the States to go to NYU. As a poor grad student, I got a job at my neighborhood restaurant, The Farm on Adderley. It was there that I discovered natural wine. I tasted wines by Olivier Cousin and Domaine du Mortier, and I was hooked. I had no idea wine could taste like this.
After years in the restaurant industry in New York, I moved to London and worked for The Quality Chop House. There, I spent time telling stories about our food suppliers and wine producers. Then last summer, I decided to take the WSET intermediate course in the Finger Lakes. I returned to London with renewed excitement. One night at Lonzo in Hackney, I had a conversation with Carlo Lupori of Caves de Pyrene, which inspired me to pursue the life of a wine consultant. Soon after returning to the US, I read about Indie Wineries and knew this was the team I had to join. I’m so honored to now be able to share the stories within the Indie portfolio with my fellow New Yorkers.

David Norris

Wine Consultant – New York

Just as my personal path has wound from plains to sea to mountains to the city, so too has my professional path taken many turns on the way to wine.


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I’ve worn many hats in this industry, each successive one a step closer to the source. To those of us who love it, wine and its people and stories play a uniquely nourishing role in our lives. To which I would say: I like my wine like I like my people and music… full of character and personality, with something interesting to say and, above all, honest. It is an honor when these things come into one’s life, and my pleasure to be able to make this my work with Indie.

John Bigelow

California Sales Manager

I moved to San Francisco originally in 1992, after taking the train across the U.S. the previous year and stopping in S.F. on my way to Asia. The Bay Area is a beautiful area offering so much, and the people I met and friends that were already here were hard to get out of my


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 head after that trip. I moved West to pursue a career in environmental sciences. After that ran it’s course, with several stops in between, Indie Wineries seemed like the right fit given my personal philosophies and relationship with the environment.

Like many that grew up in the U.S. without a family history of drinking wine with dinner, my exposure to “finer” wine came a bit later in life. I was seventeen or eighteen years old when I had a (small!) glass of Beringer Chardonnay that lit up my senses and set me off on a life of wine exploration. After several years of drinking the “typical” California wines of the time, my palate started craving more complexity and less power. I don’t recall a similar epiphany with natural wines, just a gradual progression of my palate and general disfavor with the current state of modern winemaking. It’s been wonderfully exciting to watch and share in the growth of Indie Wineries, and to see and hear the overwhelmingly positive impressions of clients, to the wines and the portfolio at large. Time for even more!

Jahde Marley

Wine Consultant – New York

I’ve always been employed within the hospitality industry. I started as a 15 year old Dishwasher, worked my way from Server to Bartender, and eventually received several certifications as a Sommelier.


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I have acquired a deep love of food and wine along the way. Even more, I have developed a respect and appreciation for the people who bring so much joy to our lives-Chefs, Line Cooks, Farmers and Producers alike. I am thankful to have found a family here at Indie where admiration for the culture, tradition, history , and potential of wine is the driving force.

MASSIMO Cesca

Spanish Portfolio Manager

Born in Turin, Piedmont. At age 19, my mother gave me my first sommelier course. After the first year I was excited about the world of wine, but I was more confused than when I had begun, so I decided to go back to my grandparents’ village and


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experiment first-hand what it means to make wine. From that moment my life is changed, after first experience was decided to understand more and more spending each year some months i harvesting and making wine in different parts of Italy, Slovenia, Austria. Meanwhile I continued my academic career at the Faculty of Foreign Languages ​​and Literatures of Turin, taking part in the Erasmus program in 2007 to study abroad, choosing a country that I knew well, having spent much of my holidays and loving its wines… Spain! There I knew Paula, the mother of my daughter. Back in Italy I started working for Slow Food as responsible for a part of the event’s Salone del Gusto and at the same time writing for Slo-wine and Birre d’Italia guide, always edited by Slow Food. After a brief stint at the UN managing the bistro, the restaurant and bar in the formation center of Turin, decided that the wine was my life. For this reason during last 6 years  worked as export manager for different Italian wineries until when we have decided realize our dream and move to Spain. Here I am! Happy to share with you my experience of a country that followed in love.

Cosimo Maffione

Photographer

After graduating in Political Science in 2007 I choose to be a photographer. In 2007 my first exhibit of pictures of the outskirts of Turin.
Right after I traveled extensively through Guatemala, Honduras and Salvador. In 2009 I worked for the LaPresse agency taking pictures of the new Juventus Stadium, home of the Juventus soccer team, the first privately owned stadium in Italy.


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After this project, a booked called “Lo Stadio che ha cambiato il Calcio (the Stadium that has changed football) was published by Priuli and Verlucca (2011), which included my photographs. In 2012 I moved to NYC to work with Christopher Anderson, a member of Magnum and resident photographer of the New York Magazine. A long time friend of Fabrizio Iuli and Summer Wolff, in 2012 I started working with Indie Wineries sharing their love for great wines made by great producers. My latest project for them is a photo gallery of producer portraits. The shooting took place during their annual Portfolio tasting in NYC, March 2016. To know more about my work please visit my website www.cosimomaffione.it

Chris Lust

Wine Consultant – Washington/Oregon

Chris Lust is a sommelier who has worked in Seattle’s restaurant scene for the last 9 years. Her roots are in rural Washington where she developed an appreciation and respect for stewards of the land. In Seattle she has connected her love of wine and her respect of nature by supporting small family farms as both a salesperson and a wine buyer.


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She joined the Indie family in October of 2016 and has enjoyed opportunities to meet the producers Indie represents and connect with wine in a new way.
In her spare time, you can find Chris tending her orchids, taking photos no one will ever see, and hosting dinner parties for friends. She loves how wine can mark an occasion and bring people together and is intrigued by its constantly evolving nature, both in the glass and as an industry.

Jesse Hufstader

Domestic Portfolio Manager & Washington Sales Director

I grew up in Seattle, working in the local restaurant scene, but it wasn’t until I moved to New York that my love of wine really took off. I brought that love with me back to my home town in 2005 and ran the wine program at Bricco, a wine bar with 40 wines by the glass. It was


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then that I really became interested in non-interventionist, organic, biodynamic and natural wine. Tasting through hundreds of wines a week, some started to stand out, have more personality, a purpose and a sense of place. I met the Indie team at VinItaly in 2011 and I knew immediately that I had found my ‘wine family’. Bringing these wines to the market in Seattle, I got the same reaction from buyers that I had: these are wines with a purpose and a sense of place. It is very gratifying to be able to truly believe in everything you present It took us a few years to go out on our own in Washington but it has been a fantastic journey and I couldn’t be happier.

Devlin Kennedy

Washington Warehouse and Delivery Specialist

 Raised in eastern Washington, I grew up surrounded by agriculture and developed a love for it early in life. With a background in permaculture and organic and biodynamic growing practices, I have a particular interest in natural and sustainable viticulture.


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rose lawler

Compliance Manager & Hospitality/Special Events

 Always having enjoyed wine, it wasn’t until my first, of many, trips to Italy in my early 20’s that I truly saw the artistry and beauty in a glass. It was also on that first trip that I went to visit Summer, who was working for a producer in Tuscany at the time. Seeing


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someone who I’d grown up with on the East End of Long Island involved in such a unique and fascinating business, made me see that one didn’t just have to enjoy wine as a spectator, but could be a part of the process.


A few years later, I got a call asking if I wanted to join the newly formed Indie team. Join a company that seeks to find small hidden gems and bring them to the masses? Kind of a no-brainer! Working with Indie, I’m blown away by the sheer numbers of different varietals I’d never heard of, let alone tasted. Getting to meet the winemakers  (or rock stars as I like to think of them) at their respective vineyards is truly the best part for me. Seeing the passion and dedication they have to their craft is inspiring and always reminds me that Indie isn’t just a company that imports organic wine. It is a family of artists and enthusiasts (like me) that love doing what they do….and also happen to import some pretty amazing wine!
 As a lover of travel and experiencing new cultures, I’ve been fortunate enough to introduce new ones to this wonderful world of Indie by being a guide and taking them to various vineyards we work with in Italy. Seeing their newfound appreciation for wines and the producers who create them is one of the most satisfying aspects of working for this company.

Elaine Heide

Oregon Territory Manager

I began working with wine in 2002 and have been lucky to have a number of great and varied jobs in retail, restaurants and wholesale distribution.


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In every experience, the opportunity to support small producers of high quality wines has always driven me forward. I was part of the Indie Washington team in 2015 and 2016 and I’m thrilled to now represent Indie Wineries in Oregon. Wine is my work and my obsession and I’m currently enrolled in the WSET Diploma program to round out the knowledge I’ve picked up over the years. I appreciate that this life with wine I’ve chosen will keep me endlessly curious and perpetually searching for another new sip.

Graham Smith

Wine Consultant – Washington

I came to my love for wine as a byproduct of following my other main love in life; music. While working and performing as a musician for many years, I often had jobs in the service industry to help pay the bills.


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Music led me to leave my Midwestern home for larger cities, first San Francisco and then later on New York. While working in Brooklyn, I had the good fortune of getting a job at Roman’s, one of Andrew Tarlow’s restaurants. At Romans we only served what would be considered “natural wine,” my first exposure to wines not made in the traditional commercial manner. This was also my first opportunity to work with many of the wines in Indie’s excellent portfolio. Music continued to steer my life over the following years, but I always found a way to work more with the wines that I had begun to love. After a brief sojourn to Nashville, Tennessee and helping open Dixie’s Wine and Liquor in Upstate New York, I decided to head back to the West Coast and Seattle to pursue a career in my other passion with Indie. I couldn’t be happier than working with these beautiful wines.

PHOTO GALLERY OF OUR EVENTS

NEW YORK

Portraits at Portfolio Tasting on March 7, 2017

NEW YORK

Work with on March 6th, 2017

NEW YORK

Portraits at Portfolio Tasting on March 8, 2016

NEW YORK

Portfolio Tasting on March 8, 2016

PHILADELPHIA

The Artisan's Cellar Tasting on March 7, 2016

NEW YORK

Franciacorta Seminar with Giovanni Arcari on July 8, 2015

SAN FRANCISCO

Portfolio Tasting on March 4, 2015

NEW YORK

Portfolio Tasting on March 2, 2015

IN THE PRESS

HUFFINGTON POST

Indie Wineries: Discovering Artisanal Wines Around the World

The SOMM Journal, January 2015

New Kids on the Block

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