They did recently do a bunch of large consumer and trade tastings focussed on the theise book. Coincidence?
Skurnik has not ‘always been the importer.’ IIRC Terry started in 1988 and used various regional Importers. I recall the Kronheim import label from the wines we sold in MA during the 90’s. Skurnik gradually became a bigger partner as their business grew in NY and nationally.
From some conversations with a few ITBers it sounds like at some point there was a merge and Skurnik took over the importing nationally but I’m not privy to the details. Gabe has always been the in house Skurnik guy for Theise wines.
I’m not aware of any actual details of the split, but based on the Skurnik email, the fact that they scrubbed all Terry’s writing from their site, and Terry’s cryptic FB post Saturday I would venture to guess the split was not amicable…
No. They always do a Theise-focused tasting in Jan-Feb, usually more Champagne. June is the annual Germany/Austria tasting. It’s been a similar schedule for a decade or more.
That’s a little before I was buying. The oldest Theise bottle I’ve got is a 2002 Nigl, and it has a Skurnik import label.
If you listen to Terry’s interview with Levi Dalton, he started with ‘85 (maybe ‘84…).
When I started buying in bulk with the ‘95 vintage, it was still easy to find prior vintages. I was able to grab great bottles from 1989, 1990, etc. First met him at a tasting of 1996s at Yankee Spirits, and have enjoyed his friendship since.
I wish him all the best.
I’m not sure I would read a nasty divorce into the fact that they’ve taken his stuff off the site. It was his IP when he wrote the stuff, and I am sure they had a agreement about what would happen to it if there was a dissolution of the relationship. Could have been nasty; also could have been entirely amicable.
I remember when Kronheim was involved. I first tasted Terry Theise’s wines in 1985 or so when David Schildknecht (who was then wine buyer for a retail store called Rex) had a tasting of Terry’s wines with Terry discussing the wines.
+1
I think 1997 was the first vintage with Skurnik.
1997 Donnhoff Kronheim label. What I had readily available at home.
I certainly wish Terry the best. He’s one of my wine heroes. His way with the language, his passion for wine, his role in making so many great German (and other) producers familiar and available in my world. A great salesman in the best sense.
No doubt, Terry and the availability of his wines at reasonable pricing in the late 90s are the reason I started buying and drinking German and Austrian wines and (grower) Champagnes early in my wine obsession. I’ve had so many profound wines from so many of his growers over the years. I owe him a real debt of gratitude. I also enjoyed meeting him a few times at his tastings, including the fantastic Theise/Skurnik Champagne tasting in NYC just a few months ago. I wish him all the best.
OK, so then 1998. I know it was sometime in the late 1990s.
I have a lot of heat damaged wines that were handled by Kronheim. Skurnik has always been pristine.
Same. Off the top of my head, mid-90s Selbach-O, Donnhoff, Christoffel, Schaefer, and M-C, e.g., have been somewhat of a crapshoot. Great bottles. Cooked bottles.
Ah, Skurnik.
It may not have been nasty, and hopefully wasn’t, but it would be a bizarre way to end amicably a long-term relationship of the sort involved here. All evidence suggests that it wasn’t amicable. In the end, I don’t know that it matters, other than it’s a shame and perhaps results in Theise having a competing import business to the extent that he is not legally precluded from doing so.
I can only think this has to be bad for the producers, and end buyers. Unless there was something Terry did to damage relationships with some growers, it’s hard to imagine Skurnik maintaining the same connection to those growers.
Whatever the details, seems like a pity for us consumers.
-Al
Skurnik is a high-class operation, so I doubt we or producers have any reason to fret.
However, Skurnik will need to work on its website if it wants to maintain the franchise. I doubt that the Austrians would be pleased to find Carnuntum, Kamptal, Kremstal, Wagram, Wachau and Weinsviertal all listed as German regions. (Check the Germany box when you search for producers.) Sort of a vinuous Anschluss. ![[wow.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/7/7d450e9830889c8943b674446a21b7254cad657e.gif "wow"){kind=small}
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The previous distributor I worked for here in CT used to handle the Theise portfolio in the 90s prior to Skurnik’s involvement, Skurnik would eventually self distribute here in CT and the entire portfolio would be released to them. There was always a disconnect between the sales force who wanted to order more of Thiese’s wines and ownership who wanted to focus more on France. During one discussion amongst the sales force and ownership one Sales Rep blurted out “All we are saying is give Thiese a chance”
It sounds like this may not have too big of an effect on me as a consumer in terms of pricing and availability (though we’ll see), but the catalogs would be a huge loss. I hope all the old ones at least get archived online somewhere, whether by Skurnik, Theise, or someone else.