USA Wine West was founded in 1996 in Berkeley, California, to provide a new model of national wine importation and distribution to wholesalers in all 50 states. In the early days, the head of the company, Steve Melchiskey, worked extensively with a large Australian export group, as well as several south of France wineries that were leading what would eventually be the “rosé revolution.”

After several years in Berkeley and San Rafael, the company settled in Sausalito, California, where it has expanded its portfolios to include virtually every known wine-growing region of the world – from the Republic of Georgia, to Japan and Slovenia, throughout the classic European wine-producing countries and virtually all of the “New World” regions.

As the business grew to encompass a broad geographic range of wineries needing information and coordination, in 2001 USA Wine West opened a second office in Portland, Maine, thereby enabling better time zone communication with our European partners. The Portland office runs the compliance and accounting operations, along with the marketing assistance program. The Sausalito office remains the headquarters, managing all import and distribution logistics, customs clearance, order processing, accounts receivable, warehouse management and inventory control, and is able to communicate more efficiently with our New World portfolios – although both offices routinely work with wineries from all over the world.

Technological development has fueled USA Wine West’s success, enabling wineries from every time zone to have 24/7 live database access to information and reports via our website. In addition, the bi-coastal offices allow problems and issues to be addressed over a wide, 12+ hour work day. In our just-in-time world, the capacity to resolve issues and create solutions quickly is a necessity.

Now, with 14 employees in two offices, USA Wine West is considered to be the “go to” company for quality wine producers who want an innovative and effective solution for U.S. import and distribution. Whether it is a full container shipment ex-cellar to a Texas wholesaler, or mixed pallets to the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board shipped from our FOB warehouses in New Jersey or California, USA Wine West provides a “one-stop shop” for suppliers from over twenty of the leading wine-producing countries in the world.