Selected Estates

What Selected Estates does

Selected Estates is a privately held, family-owned wine importer and distributor headquartered in Mamaroneck, Westchester, New York (620 Concord Avenue). Founded in October 1981 by Violante Lepore, the company specializes in curating and importing wines from small, family-owned, estate-based producers, with its core portfolio spanning 50+ producers across 18 Italian wine regions (Abruzzo through Veneto), supplemented by Champagne from France (Voirin Jumel in Côte des Blancs) and wines from Argentina's Rio Negro region (Humberto Canale). The company sells exclusively to the US trade — restaurants, wine shops, hotels, and hospitality businesses — via the Provi.com platform for client onboarding and portfolio viewing, with Melio Payments handling invoice collection. Everything is handled in-house, and the founder remains at the forefront of the business more than four decades after inception.

The business model is a classic niche B2B import and distribution operation: Selected Estates sources wines from vetted family-owned estates abroad and resells them to US trade buyers. It operates without disclosed external funding, subsidiaries, or M&A activity, and relies on a very lean team of 1-10 employees. The revenue model is best characterized as transaction-based distribution (margin on wine sales), with pricing not publicly disclosed and available to trade customers only through the Provi.com portal. Technically, the company has no proprietary technology layer — its digital footprint consists of a WordPress/Gramercy-hosted website, an Instagram presence, and integrations with Provi (trade portal) and Melio (payments). The competitive positioning rests on the founder's 40+ year relationship network with estate-based producers, which constitutes the company's primary intangible asset and the basis of its curated portfolio.

Name

Selected Estates

Legal name

Selected Estates

Website

https://selectedestates.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1981

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Selected Estates is a family-owned US wine importer and distributor, founded in 1981, specializing in curated wines from 50+ small estate-based producers across Italy, France, and Argentina, serving US restaurants, wine shops, and hospitality buyers via the Provi.com trade platform.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Wine Import and Distribution

NAICS

Wine and Distilled Alcoholic Beverage Merchant Wholesalers (42482)

SIC

Wholesale-Beer, Wine & Distilled Alcoholic Beverages (5180)

akta.pro primary industry

Alcohol Importers & Brand Owners (Wholesale) (CRAOAIAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Beer, Wine & Spirits Wholesale Distribution (CRAOAIAA), Alcoholic Beverage Wholesale (Beer, Wine, Spirits) (AFAIAGAA)

Keywords

• Wine import distribution
• Estate wine portfolio
• Italian wine importer
• Trade wine distribution
• Champagne wine import

Headquarters

HQ city

Mamaroneck

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Others

Revenue model

1. Wine Import and Distribution: Selected Estates imports and distributes wines from small, family-owned estate-based producers across Italy, France, and Argentina to trade customers in the US market. The company acts as a specialized importer offering a focused portfolio of niche wines.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Selected Estates imports and distributes a curated portfolio of wines from small, family-owned, estate-based producers in Italy (17 regions with 50+ wineries), France (Champagne via Voirin Jumel), and Argentina (Rio Negro via Humberto Canale) to US trade customers including restaurants, wine retailers, hotels, and hospitality businesses. The company operates trade-only, with portfolio access and client onboarding handled via the Provi.com platform and invoicing through Melio Payments. Everything is done in-house as a family-owned operation.

Product overview

Selected Estates is a wine import and distribution company specializing in niche Italian wines and small, family-owned estate-based producers from Argentina, France, and Italy. Founded in October 1981 by Violante Lepore, the company offers a focused portfolio organized by wine-producing regions. The Italy portfolio spans 18 wine regions featuring over 50 producers including Abruzzo (Ciavolich, Donna Giuliana), Basilicata (D'Angelo), Calabria (Cote di Franze), Campania (Orneta), Emilia-Romagna (Garuti, Torre Fornello), Friuli-Venezia Giulia (Pierpaolo Pecorari), Lazio (Poggio le Volpi), Lombardy (Fratelli Berlucchi), Marche (Col di Corte), Piedmont (La Cassacia, La Bollina, Livia Fontana, Ca' Rome', La Merlina, Vite Colte), Puglia (Cantine Due Palme), Sardegna (Cantina Della Socialle), Sicily (Ciro Biondi, Gulfi), Trentino (Garlider, Azienda Agricolo Pravis), Tuscany (Pietra Nova, Lazzeretti, Mastrojanni, Castello Della Panaretta, Tenuta Ghiaccio Forte, Terre Di Sovernaja, Zari, Castello Romitorio, Canneto, Le Filigare), Umbria (Scacciadiavoli), and Veneto (Canevel, Frozza, Ai Galli, Luciano Arduini, Cantina Negrar). The company also imports from Argentina's Rio Negro region and France's Champagne region.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Italy Wine Portfolio Comprehensive Italian wine import portfolio spanning 17 wine regions (Abruzzo, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Emilia-Romagna, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Lazio, Lombardy, Marche, Piedmont, Puglia, Sardegna, Sicily, Trentino, Tuscany, Umbria, and Veneto) and featuring 50+ family-owned, estate-based producers ranging from boutique wineries to larger producers such as Cantine Due Palme (17 million bottles annually). Sold to US trade customers including restaurants, wine retailers, and hospitality businesses.
• France Champagne Portfolio Champagne import portfolio featuring Voirin Jumel, a family-owned Champagne house with 11 hectares of vines across 11 villages in the Côte des Blancs region, producing Blanc de Blancs and Rosé champagnes aged a minimum of 3-4 years. Distributed to US trade customers.
• Argentina Wine Portfolio Wine import portfolio featuring wines from Argentina's Rio Negro region, including the historic Humberto Canale winery founded in 1909, producing fine wines from traditional French grape varieties including Merlot, Pinot Noir, Malbec, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Semillón, Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier, and Torrontés. Distributed to US trade customers.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Provi.comcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorProvi.com serves as the trade client portal for Selected Estates, allowing restaurants and hospitality professionals to become clients, view the wine portfolio, and access the company's curated selection of estate wines from Italy, France, and Argentina.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Kobrand Corporation: A long-standing U.S. importer and marketer of fine wines and spirits, including Italian and French estates. Operates in the same trade distribution channel with overlapping wine categories.
• Vias Imports: A family-owned Italian wine importer and distributor based in the U.S. with a similarly curated portfolio of small, estate-based producers. Highly comparable in size, philosophy, and customer base to Selected Estates.
• Opici Wines: A family-owned wine and spirits importer with a strong Italian portfolio distributed to U.S. trade customers. Competes for the same restaurant and retailer relationships and overlapping producer universe.
• Kermode Lynch: An independently owned, portfolio-based importer of grower-producer wines from France, Italy, and beyond. Mirrors Selected Estates' approach of curating small-production, family-owned estates for the U.S. trade.
• Skurnik Wines: A family-owned fine wine importer specializing in small, family-domain producers from France, Italy, Austria, and Germany. Operates with the same estate-curation thesis and trade-channel focus as Selected Estates.
• Polaner Selections: A family-owned importer and distributor of fine European and South American wines focused on small, family-owned estates. Directly comparable in mission, customer base, and supplier archetype.
• Domaine Select Wine Estates: Importer of family-owned, estate-based producers from France, Italy, Austria, and Germany, distributing to U.S. fine wine trade. Closely overlaps with Selected Estates' portfolio philosophy and supplier profile.
• Frederick Wildman & Sons: Long-established U.S. importer of premium Italian and French wines, distributing to the same trade customer base of restaurants, hotels, and wine shops. Directly competes for the same niche estate-level suppliers.

Broad incumbents

• Palm Bay International: A major U.S. wine and spirits importer with an extensive Italian and French portfolio. Competes for trade accounts at the higher end of the market where Selected Estates also plays, but at substantially greater scale.
• Winebow: A much larger U.S. wine importer and distributor with a broad portfolio spanning multiple countries. Operates in the same channel but at significantly greater scale and with a wider portfolio.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/selectedestates
• Facebookfacebook.com/profile.php
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/selected-estates-of-europe

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Selected Estates