Ted Diamantis: Greek Wine Crusader
Ted Diamantis is the owner of Diamond Wine Importers, the 28-year-old Greek wine portfolio based out of Chicago, Illinois.
Ted created the company out of the belief that Greece, with its natural terroir of mountain vineyards, maritime influence climate, volcanic and alluvial soils, and over 200 ancient indigenous varieties, can once again become a source of some of the most exceptional wines in the world.
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
How Ted Diamantis got introduced to wine
Ted talks about quitting his corporate job and being introduced to wine imports by his mentor, George Skouras
How Gerald Hirsch helped Ted learn the wine distribution business
Ted shares how he stayed motivated and driven to push Greek wine even when distributors were turning him down
What the Greek wine U.S market looks like today
How Ted has pivoted the marketing of Greek wines to be more present on social media and other direct-to-consumer channels
Ted shares his thoughts on how the wine and hospitality industry post COVID-19
In this episode…
=What started like a ‘crazy idea’ over 28 years ago turned Ted Diamantis into a true Greek wine crusader in the U.S market through his company, Diamond Wine Importers. But his journey, though it became a huge success, wasn’t a completely smooth ride. In fact, Ted had to work two jobs for 17 years just to keep his business afloat.
When Ted started importing and selling Greek wine in the U.S market, he tried to cold call distributors. However, none of the people he reached out to wanted to talk about it and there were even those who didn’t even want to entertain the subject. It was painted quite simply for him: they were not interested. But Ted wanted to compete and win. He believed he had a great product and that Greek wines can be parallel and comparable to other more well-known wines. So he continued working on his vision and Ted was able to catch his break, grow his business and make inroads into the U.S wine market.
Learn more about Ted Diamantis of Diamond Wine Importers and his Greek wine crusade in the U.S market on this episode of the Alexi Cashen Podcast. Ted shares with Alexi his journey through quitting his corporate job and being introduced to the wine importation business by his mentor, George Skouras, and he also talks about how he learned the ropes of wine distribution, how Greek wines are performing in the U.S market today, and how he increased his company’s presence on social media. Stay tuned.
Resources Mentioned in this episode
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