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mports Inc./chicago is Beverly Malen Chicago based entrepreneur previously known as the owner of Photo 60, the city’s first one hour photo shop. After running her photo business for 15 years in Piper’s Alley and then in the heart of Wicker Park she decided to totally change directions. Encouraged and initially coached by the late (greatly missed) Pete “Rudi” Rudiger, Beverly decided to import wine.
As with many circumstances in her life, a series of fortuitous co-incidences brought to her doorstep a portfolio of wines from Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of the lesser known of Italy’s wine regions. These were produced by wineries with limited or no exposure to the American market, many made from varietals no one had heard of or could pronounce, least of all Beverly. But she loved the wine. “I never even liked white wine until I met the whites of Friuli, specifically until I met Tocai,” Beverly freely admits, adding “The reds were more interesting than any I had ever tasted partly because they had more complexity and depth of flavor and partly because they were a substantial step up in quality from my usual quaff, although not more costly in most cases.”
Thus bolstered by her full confidence in the quality — if not the marketability — of her wines Beverly set out to learn the business and begin to know the wine community. She went to Friuli to visit the wine-makers, met their families who had been producing the wines for several generations, visited their vineyards, learned their history and began studying Italian. Now not only can she pronounce Schioppettino without even pausing to think, she can speak to Emilio Bulfon, one of the most unique wine makers in Italy (as well as an all-around nice guy), in his own language.
Since the wines arrived on the shores of Lake Michigan, they have found their way into some of our most exclusive restaurants, onto the shelves of some of our best known retailers and onto the tables of some of Chicago’s most knowledgeable wine connoisseurs. Many have won awards at international wine fairs and have been highly praised by Gambero Rosso, Robert Parker and the Italian Sommelier’s Guide “Due Mille Vini,” as well as other wine guides.
Imports Inc. / chicago
Beverly Malen
1658 N. Milwaukee Ave. #112
Chicago, IL 60647
Telephone +1 (773) 227-WINE (9463)
Email: info@imports-inc.com