Importing Wine Since The Last Century
The Case For Wine has been importing quality artisanal wine for over 20 years in Ontario. Founded in 1998, The Case For Wine sells its products through an assortment of channels including LCBO Vintages, LCBO General Products, the Consignment channel, and to private collectors.
In 2017 The Case For Wine was purchased by Ruben Elmer and Roberto Albis and in 2021 they partnered with VINEXX.
Down to business with the LCBO
- 32 General List Products listed at LCBO
- 11 Vintages Essential’s at LCBO
- Total “GL” case sales 2023 at LCBO 283,000
- Total Vintages releases 2023 131
- Strong On Premise footprint with deep contacts in the Sommelier community
- Genuine and well established contacts with industry leaders
- Specialty staff dedicated to each market channel within the LCBO
- Market expertise, insight and a commitment to collaboration between supplier and the LCBO
- A dynamic portfolio of top growers and larger firms, able to work across the spectrum
The Consignment Channel
- The Consignment channel is used for private imports, mostly used by restaurants and collectors to purchase wines unavailable on the store level
- Can be used as an incubator to grow product from the ground level
- A growing area of the wine business in Ontario, one used to import both high volume products and allocated wines
- A way to establish market consistency for your wines in Ontario
People & Purpose
The business of wine is ultimately about people. The dynamic team at The Case For Wine values our long-term relationships and has been blessed to work with Wineries, Customers, and Contemporaries for decades.
Ruben Elmer - Partner
Ruben spent his formative years working in Toronto’s restaurant industry and was widely considered to be among the best Sommeliers of the time. He made the leap from Sommelier to wine importing in 2006 and worked with the top firm of Profile Wine Group for over 10 years. In his capacity there, he was responsible for the large On Premise sales team, portfolio selections and grower relations. Being a resident of Toronto enables Ruben to offer on-ground support to your Winery, along with insider’s knowledge and access to Canada’s biggest wine market.
Roberto Albis - Partner
Raised on a steady diet of Barolo, Barbaresco, Bravado & Bordeaux, Rob has spent most of his life at the helm of the family’s restaurants business, he eventually decided to commit himself entirely to the wine business and has been a disrupter since that day. Always a regular on the wine scene (Think late nights at Vinitaly, long days at ProWein & massive Champagne tabs) Rob has developed a large and diverse network of contacts. He has traveled extensively (always 1st Class) to the wine producing regions of the world but his spiritual home lies somewhere between Alba and Etna. If you’re in need of insightful market analysis drop him a line .
Management
Rolf Lutz - President
Kathy Cannon - Vice President
Peter Lang - General Manager
Lou Recchi - Ontario Sales Manager
Brand Managers
Patricia Arhontakis
Laura Hebb
Robert Kidd
Administration
Andres Gonzalez - Customer Service Coordinator
Sophia Berlanquet - Bookkeeper
On-Premise Sales Team
Lenny Panzer – Business Development Manager
Rick Baroncelli – Sales Manager, South West Ontario
Retail Sales Team
Alyson McClean – Territory Sales Manager, Northern GTA
Dave Holmes – Territory Sales Manager, Western Ontario
Benoit Renaud - Territory Sales Manager, Eastern Ontario
Kevin Moore – Territory Sales Manager, Northern Ontario Veronik Pouliot, Territory Sales Representative, GTA