Who is Karina Imschoot, initiator of the Made In Piedmont Wines webshop?

Who is Karina Imschoot, the initiator of the Webshop Made In Piedmont Wines

With the renewal of our webshop - hosting via Shoptrader (NL) - suddenly the introductory text disappeared and via the frame we now have, no more text can be included. So the public actually loses track, in answer to the question: who is behind the Made In Piedmont Wines webshop? So it's about time I took up the pen.

To get to the point, first a little history of my past with Piedmont. Brace yourself for a long, but very straightforward, story because I - Karina Imschoot - have not had such an obvious track record.

In 2006 - one week before the death of my mother - I went on a so-called Vespa vacation to Piedmont. I didn't touch the Vespa with a finger, but on a terrace in Neive, with wide views of the vineyards, I made the promise: "This is where I will come back, this is where I want to live." However, not so long that I would have to leave behind my only surviving parent.

So from 2006 to 2011 came at least 4 private trips a year to Piedmont, focusing solely on wines and gastronomy. However taking the step to living in Piedmont, that remained far away. In between all those Piedmont trips, there were also the inspection and events trips for what was then Italia Incentives. By the way, our tourism activity was a great success in spring, summer and very early fall, except in Piedmont. Focus on Vespa & Fiat 500 trips mainly for sales personnel of our clients who had achieved their grades. Reason why no success in Piedmont: we had around 60 to 100 participants, needless to say that with the small structures in Piedmont, you can never host 100 people alone in single rooms. So yes, it was mainly Rome, in retrospect not my dada despite the very large assignments with accompanying large revenues. Wine tastings with Italian guest speakers of Associazione Italiana Sommelier and a trio of nicely dressed sommeliers (typical suits) were always there somewhere.

On March 8, 2011, nota bene Festa della Donna, we sat together with our Turin accountant and notary: Italia Incentives with Italian VAT number was born. Bizarre but then also small groups for Piemonte began to sign up. Finding an accountant in Italy is no easy task. A Piedmontese contact told me to go on an inspection tour with the simplest, non-brand, clothing and especially footwear of no more than 50 euros. Yes, I was inspected from head to toe by eight accountants and only one - the ninth - remained. By the way, in all his guidance he was the one who always gave me the advice: keep it simple!

Soon we received the request, not only from companies of Swiss, English and French origin, but also for personnel from more and more Belgian and Dutch companies, to also experience our offer privately with the family. Aimed at more customers in the "quiet, not incentive, months" the name was changed to Made In Italy Travel. The private trips were exclusively Piedmont.

Meanwhile, we had reached the year 2013, there was a move from Lede (East Flanders) to Barbaresco, April 26, 2013. The incentives all over Italy were phased out to just Piedmont because it just became more difficult organizationally to find a dogsitter for about four days. I had then, and still do not have a lap dog but an Australian shepherd (more space and walking required). The private trips that came in from mainly families from US, China and Japan grew, always at least 3 days with my exclusive guidance and only visiting the biggest names in the wine scene. For two years it was pulling from Ettore Germano, Luigi Sandrone etc. to Bartolo Mascarello and having lunch at La Ciau del Tornavento and many other - also not Michelin star, restaurants.

It was on a visit with clients from the United States - this time a wine shop from Texas - to Bartolo Mascarello, who, by the way, were able to shop on the spot (no obvious thing normally) - that I literally sank through the floor.I was guide, interpreter, call it whatever you want, but in terms of direct sight, looking into the eyes and appreciation, a level of minus 10!!! I had noticed this before with some renowned names; but here it was just so striking! Here was the basis for the decision: I will only collaborate with what can be called the "unknown shrimpers." Perhaps irreverent to call them that but it is true. Meanwhile, through our and other visitors, they have of course reached a certain level.

Anyway, you just have to get a Cascina Gavetta (Novello), Umberto Fracassi (Cherasco), Antica Cascina dei Conti di Roero (Vezza d'Alba - Roero) or even more extreme Sergio Ternavasio, with his handwritten labels, sold to the wine and gastronomy lovers who descended to Piedmont! In terms of naming the wine travel story, it switched to Piedmont Travel; which covered the load. Incentives were still rarely done because visiting with foreign visitors (remember my training as an interpreter, quadrilingual!) provided more satisfaction.

Meanwhile, we are in 2015 building a wine sales channel, Made In Piedmont Wines : originally the first six months with a few simple excel sheets, then built out own website. Who wonders why an English name: for our foreign customers, who by the way are still ordering today - by now 12 to 13 years since their first visits - with still identically the same wines now still on order.

The year 2015 was also breaking with our Turin accountant, whose invoices were by now x 3, closing the Italian VAT number ánd reopening my Belgian VAT number. Yes, before getting into wine and gastronomy travel, and the wine business that goes with it, I was an independent event manager for 20 years, or more exactly, making sure everything always fell into place. The move from Barbaresco to Cherasco also fell in 2016.

2015 was also the year that, after gaining practical knowledge at wineries, the time had come to get a diploma somewhere after all. Not SDEN but sommelier with the Turin branch of Associazione Italiana Sommelier. Not choosing the Alba department but Turin because the classes and bottles in tasting there were also so much higher in terms of level. Strange as this may seem, surrounded by Barolo and Barbaresco. Spent three years in school. Since the lessons were in Italian, more time was needed to adequately prepare each lesson as well as the aftercare, the wine and gastronomy trips were gradually reduced to now barely 5% of my total work week. Now only group tours are accompanied.

The web shop kept growing and in 2018 I felt the need to return to Belgium, despite the daily rides I made between the vineyards in my Saab Cabrio Aero (the coolest car I ever owned!). By the way, I wore out four Saab convertibles.

Looking back on my time in Barbaresco, I had one mentor, Angelo Gaja. I often had lunch in the village square. That crazy Flemish who drove around in winter with bear hat, convertible open and heater full blast had attracted attention. Most of the locals thought they had seen a ghost! Angelo Gaja was regularly at events wherever I went, regularly stopped when I was having lunch in the town square in Barbaresco, and several of his many tips I took to heart. Angelo Gaja was truly genuinely captivated by my growth and saw potential in my presence in Barbaresco.

By far the most important two tips:

Having a wine store or wine shop without being involved in it full time is just a "hobby." In terms of financial potential, you cannot maximize it, Angelo commented. Of course, wine is dear to me, my absolute passion, but I have long left the hobby stage behind.

Other tip: never call your producers friends because with your producers you have to be able to negotiate, with friends around the table you can't.

So short but sweet:

Mission

To bring out the result of the wine producer, so no flashy names but producers with small volumes up to usually 10,000 bottles, passionate professionals with the experience for the customer (birthday, wedding, nice dinners etc.). Not only my familiar territory from my wine and gastronomy travels, being Barolo, Barbaresco and Roero area, but also the Asti region, Monferrato and the very emerging area Alto Piemonte.

I bring together my know-how, budget friendliness, customer preference and wine pairing.

Values

There is a lot of emailing with our producers about their labels, their level of competition with wineries not hosted with us, their social media, etc.. All to arrive at one, very coherent, collaboration. We work with wineries that share the same vision and where both sides want to learn from each other, in order to achieve symbiosis. If we don't get it, sometimes we decide pretty quickly to work with other producers. So we are very selective in the choice of our wineries.

Conclusion

We are constantly growing and putting more resources in, it's hard work every day. And believe me, all those so-called professional gurus who proclaim to work few hours a day, yet have lots of free time and do lots of private travel, they are dead wrong.

My weekdays start at 6am and end around 8pm (with 2 breaks of 1 hour lunch and dinner, 1 hour walk with Asanka). Weekends are considerably quieter but emails do get answered immediately. In terms of travel, everything is professional, we try to go to Piedmont every one and a half to two months.

Our office, with one staff member, is in Mechelen. However, apart from advance appointments, I work from my home in the very idyllic and quiet village of Méan (10 km from Durbuy). Online and in terms of the warehouse, everything is done from Wallonia. Every day, Bpost comes by to pick up the orders that all go to Flanders, across all provinces. There are few customers in Wallonia, area with mainly lovers of Bordeaux wines, here in the area people spend about 8 € per bottle. Namur and Liège city may be different. As mentioned at the beginning, my path is not the most obvious but there was a continuous growth and especially very focused niche, smaller and smaller. Only Piedmontese wines, nothing else.

Photo of 2013 Langhe Nebbiolo - Sergio Ternavasio. Then again under private label because the start-up via his own handwritten label for all his wines was extremely difficult. After 2 years under private labels switched to his own hand written labels.