Ecuador is mostly known for its export products of oil, cocoa and bananas. Until recently, wine was not included in this list. Jochen Heigoldt, managing director of Vioneers from Backnang, decided to change this and started an import process that would rob him and his team of sleep for months and almost cost them their nerves.
wine from Ecuador
Ecuador is particularly well-known for its main exports of oil, bananas, cocoa and shrimp. For a long time it was thought impossible to grow wine in Ecuador because it "could not" cope with the exotic climate at the equator. A favorable constellation of Ecuadorian extremes - from the coast to the rainforest to the high mountains - favored by the cooling Humboldt Current, should provide an ideal climate for top-quality wines.
What was thought to be impossible had actually become true: The Dos Hemisferios winery is one of two wineries in the whole of Ecuador and therefore an absolute rarity.
The Wine Merchant
A few years ago, the managing director of the wine merchant Vioneers, Jochen Heigoldt, tasted the wines of Dos Hemisferios by chance and he just couldn't forget them. The decision was made - an import had to be made.
The order was placed and the winery sent the goods on their way very quickly. Finally, a few months ago, the news came: the pallets were in the container ship on the Atlantic Ocean. But that's where the real thriller began...
The Import Crime
Curtain up for the EU.
Customs in Hamburg: “How are we supposed to know that there is really wine in it? This product has never been imported from Ecuador to Europe! Unfortunately, we cannot accept this information on the label.”
For logistics manager Leonhard Kurz, this was followed by a months-long exchange of blows with Hamburg customs about laboratory values, requirements for new labeling and the Ecuadorian authorities. Late night calls with Quito (the capital of Ecuador) were scheduled almost every day. Hamburg customs were on Leo's speed dial - there was really daily contact. The sword of Damocles always hung over him if all requirements were not met 100%:
“Then the wines will have to go back to Ecuador or they will be destroyed!”
The turn
After a long and intense effort, things finally turned around: deadlines were met at the last minute, processes began to take effect and new labels were affixed to the bottles like an honorary award. All efforts seemed to be paying off - but no one dared to breathe a sigh of relief.
It was finally a cold and overcast Wednesday morning when the horn of the shipping company echoed through the Swabian forest and, with a last-ditch effort, the pallets were finally put into storage.
The response to the exotic wine was so overwhelming that Vioneers had to reorder: So the import game begins all over again – fortunately with the previous experience of the first import of Ecuadorian wine into the EU.
