All images copyright Peter Wearing. Used with permission.
Peter and Gianni (right)

selling wine and telling stories — one vineyard at a time

In 1991, Richard Godin and Peter Wearing started talking, literally around the water cooler. Richard had recently been to his first wine tasting and Peter had visited wineries while travelling in Australia. 

For some reason, they decided it would be a good idea to start a business as a wine importer with the sole intention of writing off travel expenses to exotic wine regions. So they did. Richard to Germany and Peter to Italy. This is what happened to Peter. Ask Richard to tell you his story.

After several frustrating days trying to navigate the vagaries of Italian wine regions, Peter stumbled upon a small winery in the Veneto, Luigi Righetti. In rudimentary Italian he brazenly asked a fellow (who was actually named Gianni) on a tractor if he could sample some wines. The man obliged by bringing Peter into the family dining room. After tasting the wines, Gianni was asked if he would be interested in exporting to Ontario. Without a word, Gianni disappeared, and suddenly another gentleman poked his head around the door, looked at Peter, looked at his business card and looked up at him again. He nodded his assent to Gianni. That was Luigi Righetti himself and that day marked the start of an almost 30 year relationship. 

Their first order was two cases. Today, they sell more Luigi Righetti wine than was even produced in 1991!

Peter and Richard have similar stories for all of the producers that they represent. They have cultivated wonderful, lifelong relationships with winemakers across the world and have a passionate team that have stood the test of time. Because of this, they offer exceptional products to 1,000 restaurants and more than 5,000 private customers in Ontario.