Johanness Bornemisza, Marketing Director with E & J Gallo Winery for Latin America and the Caribbean

Johanness Bornemisza is the Marketing Director with E & J Gallo Winery for Latin America and the Caribbean, a company based in California that’s currently selling its products to 90 different markets around the world, especially in Latin America and the Caribbean. In this exclusive interview with Caribbean News Digital, Mr. Bornemisza explains what his company’s plans are for the region and the Cuban market.

Where is your company based?

We’re based in California, where the family settled in 1933. Ever since, they have bought different wineries in California and now in Washington. We also have properties on the central coast, in Sonoma, in Napa, and that’s our focus.

What are the main markets where your products are sold?

E&J Gallo is present in nearly 90 markets worldwide. In Latin America and the Caribbean, we’re basically in every market, from Bermuda to the north to Trinidad & Tobago in the southern area of the Caribbean. We’re in Mexico, Central America and in South America we go through Brazil and Peru.

What are your expectations in FIHAV?

There is plenty of optimism and positivism on Cuba. Now that we’ve come here and discovered the whole spirit behind those paladares and the creativeness of Cuban cuisine, its quality, we think that it’s amazing. There is great opportunity in Cuba in terms of gastronomic tourism.

We’d love to join that movement with our Californian wines, which can be perfectly paired with most of dishes. Californian enologists are focused on having wines in harmony with food.

People always say that the wine from one region is a great complement for that region’s food and they mention Italian wines and pastas as example. The interesting thing about California and the cooking style in the area is that the cuisine is based on season ingredients. Many ingredients change as seasons do. It’s kind of similar to what we live in the Caribbean, where sometimes it’s not necessarily related to the season, but you might have certain ingredient or not and the food is modified throughout the year.

We have quite flexible wines. We’re seeing such level of brands as Dark Horse, a new line we’re starting to develop, focused on quality and the value-price relation. One of our lines is distributed throughout the Caribbean region and it’s excellent. The name is Barefoot. The idea behind Barefoot is to make it accessible for all those who want to enjoy wine without paying attention to other complicated aspects, just drink a glass of fine-tasting wine.

The enologist behind Barefoot, Jennifer Wall, is the most award-winning wine expert in the United States and she has specific requirements for her wines. She underlines that wines have to be variedly correct. When you drink a Pinot Grigio, it tastes like Pinot Grigio grape. Mrs. Wall also says that wines must be easy to drink, so they are pleasant and honest when you taste them, instead of complicated. Last but not least, these wines are to be friendly with food.       

There are wines that turn jealous when it comes to pairing them with food. In this case, you can open a Pinot Grigio and it’ll be superb with shrimps, lobsters, fish, even chicken and pork.

We’re also developing another wine, named Apothic Red. Apothic Red is made up of four different grapes. You have Zinfandel, Syrah, Merlot and Cabernet. Since it’s an assemble, you have to think of it as a sauce: you only add one spice and the sauce is good, but if you can include four or five it would be even more complex. This is the beauty of Apothic Red, a mysterious and emblematic wine. People fall in love when they taste, from the label and bottle to the wine.

What’s actually interesting is the fact that it’s an incredibly versatile wine with food. I’ve enjoyed this red wine with dishes ranging from shellfish to intense meats, which is usually difficult to achieve with a wine.

Have you held talks with Cuban authorities?

We personally haven’t, but it’s obviously part of the work we’re carrying out and the people we’re establishing associations with. That’s where you see the relation between you as a supplier, your representative, distributor or importer and the work done by means of local distributors.

We’re taking one step at the time, but expectations are high and we’re looking forward to feeling in Cuba the same esteem we have received in the rest of the Caribbean.