Each month we feature an incredible small-batch winery and this month we are so excited to feature wines from The Vinho, a husband-and-husband wine importing team bringing Portuguese wines to San Diego.
Photo courtesy of The Vinho
About The Vinho
Leigh & Justin’s company The Vinho (www.thevinho.com) is a San Diego-based importer & online wine retailer, husband & husband team, specializing in wines from Portugal. They carry a unique selection of 40 + affordable artisanal wines, crafted by small, family-run Portuguese vineyards, that have small batch production & use sustainable farming practices & low-intervention winemaking methods.
We caught up with Leigh and Justin to learn more about their brand, why Portuguese wines are so unique, and what they're excited about for the future of their business.
What made you want to start a wine brand?
In a nutshell - we got stuck in Portugal during lockdown in 2020, fell in love with Portugal & their wines, got back to San Diego and realized how difficult it was to find good Portuguese wine here. So we decided to quit our jobs and start importing it!
How has the process been in growing your brand and what are you most excited about over the next 5 years?
I guess not having a background in wine or importing goods, or even not having ever started our own business before, were definitely major hurdles to overcome at the start of our journey! It was a very steep learning curve, but we just did one task at a time until it culminated in us getting our first shipment of wine!
Then our initial (and current!) struggles in growing our business are definitely related to the importing side. Our business is very much controlled by the shipping companies – if there is any delay on their side, then that massively affects us and if we have no wine, we have no business! Also, from our side, we need to make sure that we time placing our orders so that we don’t run of out of wine – we have definitely got much better at trying to time our shipments correctly, but as we continue to grow it is still an ongoing struggle of ours. Thankfully our customers are very patient with us and don’t mind waiting a couple of weeks for their wine if we are still waiting for a shipment to arrive!
In the next 5 years we’re really looking forward to expanding our portfolio with new wines from wineries from new wine regions in Portugal; getting our wines into more wine bars & restaurants; and probably most excitingly, to start wine tourism by taking our customers to our wineries in Portugal!
What is the most common misconception about Portuguese wines?
Oh, so many! That Portugal is even a wine producing country - they’re actually the 10th largest producer in the world. That they don’t have their own indigenous grapes - they have over 250. That they produce just Port wines and that’s it - they have 14 wine regions that are all unique and produce all kinds of different wines!
How has it been starting a business with your partner?
If you’re mad enough to spend 24/7 with your partner, then definitely start a business together! Thankfully, we have complimentary skill sets and a pretty clear division of labour which definitely minimizes conflict, but I think ultimately what better person to start a business with than the person you can rely on and trust the most in the world!
What is 1 thing you want people to know about you or your wines that they may not know?
We pride ourselves on having unique, small-batch, low-intervention, affordable wines – the majority of our wines are in the $24-$34 price range. We think high quality wine should be accessible & affordable, like it is in Europe. Unfortunately, most of the wines you find in grocery stores in the US are mass-produced & high-intervention, so you end up having to spend considerably more to find a quality bottle of wine, which we think is just plain wrong!
This month, we're featuring the Adega do Mato Escolha Rosé Blend. Adega do Mato means ‘wine cellar in the bush’, due to the winery being located in an area of unique scrubland which is a result of being in the transition zone between the Vinho Verde & Trás-os-Montes. It's made using Padeiro, also known as Padeiro de Basto, which is an indigenous vinho verde grape that originated in the sub-region of Basto. It is a light, dry rosé with blackberry notes and a unique effervescence that gives a similar effect to a bubbly wine!
Not only do Justin & Leigh bring amazing wines to San Diego, they specialize in offering FREE private in-home wine tastings, and love introducing people to this underrated wine country. You can find a link to their online booking calendar here: https://thevinho.com/wine-
