Neil Empson, founder of Empson & Co. and a pioneering importer of Italian fine wine into the United States, died Sept. 14 after a long battle with cancer. He was 85.

“My father won many battles but lost his most precious war, as he wanted to live and love as he did during his life,” Tara Empson, his daughter and the current CEO of Empson & Co., told Wine Spectator. “He insisted on having sips of wine, even toward his last moments, as it was his pride and joy, as well as my mom, his beloved partner until the end.”

A Kiwi Spreading the Gospel of Italian Wines to the World

Empson was born March 16, 1939, in the district of Waikato in New Zealand, to a family of farmers. He met his wife, Maria Gemma, in 1969. The couple founded Empson & Co. in 1972 in Milan, which became their home base. He recognized the potential of Italian wines and introduced Americans to producers from around Italy as the nation’s wine quality revolution evolved during the 1970s and 1980s. He would bring in new names like Angelo Gaja who would eventually become icons in the American market.

Empson USA was created in 1991 and Empson Canada in 2000, solidifying the import and distribution of wines from across Italy. The company would grow and expand to wines from California, Oregon, New Zealand and Chile.

Dominic Nocerino, who created Vinifera Imports in 1979 to represent fine Italian wines, also started in the wine business in 1972. “I first met Neal in Chicago in 1974,” he recalled. “At the time he was one of the few quality Italian importers in the United States. He was a pioneer for our industry and believed in the quality of Italian wine long before many others did. He will be truly missed.”

Importing Wine Means Finding Your Way with Grace

I first met Neil in 2008, when I moderated a seminar on Italian wines from Empson’s portfolio as part of Wine Spectator’s Seminar Series at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival. Two years later, I began covering Piedmont and Tuscany for the magazine.

We met up again in November 2010 in Piedmont, where I visited Luigi Einaudi and Marcarini, two of Empson’s producers. I had a few days in Milan before returning to the U.S., so Neil invited me to the Empson offices to taste through their Piedmont and Tuscan wines. Tasting that day, I was impressed with the Empson estates that worked with consulting enologist Franco Bernabei. He imparted an elegant touch, particularly to wines from Il Molino di Grace, a Chianti Classico winery that had recently been purchased by American Frank Grace.

The following year, on a trip to Tuscany, I visited Bernabei’s lab in the Chianti Classico commune of Greve, followed by an appointment at Il Molino di Grace. Neil joined us. We had all been invited to dinner after the tasting, so I offered to drive Neil to Panzano and Il Molino di Grace.

We toured the winery and tasted, then made our way to the main house. Being November, it was dark, and my rental car struggled up a steep gravel road. After about five minutes and no sign of the house, I asked Neil if we were going in the correct direction. “I don’t know,” he replied. “I’ve never been here.” (There’s a potential metaphor for discovering fine wines and importing them here.) Needless to say, we arrived and enjoyed a wonderful dinner.

When I shared the news of Neil’s passing with Grace, he responded via email, “It was my relationship with Neil as an import partner that single-handedly put Il Molino di Grace on the map in the United States. Being part of Neil’s portfolio suggested a certain Old World charm, and, dare I say, grace.”

Neil was a warm, funny and compassionate man, always quick with a humorous story. He will be greatly missed. He is survived by his wife, Maria; his children Tara Empson, Tracy Rudich and Paul Empson; and his siblings Heather, Margaret and Graham.

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