Who we are

The Seekers

Way back in 1994, Shelly and Howard Kalmer embarked on an epicurean adventure through the then little-known Marlborough wine region of New Zealand. On the shaded back porch of a vintner’s home, Howard and Shelly tasted a Sauvignon Blanc so distinctive and delicious that the couple resolved to introduce the great wines of New Zealand to the world.

That they did. Their first company, Via Pacifica Imports, became one of the first major importers of New Zealand wines in the United States. And today Shelly and Howard are widely recognized as chief among the discoverers of the great Sauvignon Blancs, Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs of New Zealand.

Way back in 1989, Jenny and Joel Helman began their wine journey when, by chance, Jenny took a job as a marketing associate at a small winery in the then-unknown Dry Creek Valley of California’s Wine Country. Nestled among the rolling hills of Sonoma County, Jenny fell in love with the artisan (it was called family-owned back then) style of winemaking – small batches, loving craftsmanship, quality ingredients, and time-honored techniques.

The experience inspired the couple to create North Coast Wine Group, a firm dedicated to selecting only the finest value wines for a growing cadre of dedicated customers. As sales grew who do you think was the company’s biggest supplier? Naturally, Shelly and Howard of Via Pacifica Imports and their heavenly line up of New Zealand appellations.

In 2004 Shelly and Howard and Jenny and Joel went fly-fishing together in a hard-to-find fish-filled lake in Northern California, They happened to pair a bottle of Huia Sparkling wine with a slab of freshly made Humboldt Fog Goat Cheese.

All four hailed it as an epicurean epiphany. The wine emboldened the cheese and the cheese brought out the herbaceous flavors hidden in the wine. What made the pairing so unusual? So intriguing? So perfect?

And then it dawned on them; both wine and cheese were lovingly made in limited quantity in artisan fashion by family growers. Cheese made with the milk of the cows and sheep and goats grazing in the yonder fields and wine pressed and barreled not far from the stretch of the vines.

The two couples continued to build their friendship in ensuing years--always enjoying a variety wines and cheeses whenever they spent time together. So the idea of starting a company to pair artisan wines and cheeses came up and became as inevitable as a chilled glass of a Russian River Valley Staley Viogner with a fresh helping of aromatic Essex Comte cheese from the Jura region of France.

Shelly and Howard. Jenny and Joel. Two couples, four intrepid seekers searching the globe for the finest pairings of artisan wines and cheeses. One great company dedicated to bringing epicurean epiphanies to you.