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Look for these importers

Importers do not sell directly to the public, but they are responsible for bringing in many foreign wines from famous and undiscovered wineries, and from expensive rarities to $10 bargains.

Here are some of the most influential and trusted names nationally and the names of several local importers as well. If you like wines of a particular country, find an importer that specializes there and look for the name on the back label.

Cape Classics (Andre Sherer): South Africa

Classical Wine Imports (Stephen Metzler): Spain, Portugal, Germany

Eric Solomon: France, Spain, Portugal

Grateful Palate (Dan Phillips): Australia, plus artisan American bacon, coffees

Jorge Ordonez: Spain

Robert Kacher: France

Fran Kysela: France, Italy, Spain

Kermit Lynch: France

Marc de Grazia: Italy

Leonoardo LoCascio: Italy

Stacole Fine Wines (Chris Lano): France

Terry Thiese: Germany, Austria, Champagne

Vineyard Brands (Robert Haas): France, South Africa

Weygandt-Metzler: France, Australia

Marco and Son, Tampa (Marco Vivona): Italy, Argentina

J.F. Wine Imports (Jean Francois Christini), Venice: France

Florida Fine Wine Imports, Tampa (Vic Lewandowski): France, Italy