Wine Distributor Jobs in Chicago, IL (NOW HIRING)

The Role:
Most wine jobs put you in one box. You sell for a distributor, or you buy for a shop, or you work a tasting room, and you see one slice of how wine actually moves.
This one does not. You will spend time with the families who grow and make the wine, follow it through import and into the warehouse, work alongside the distributors who move it, and sell it to chain buyers, independent retailers, restaurants, and sommeliers. Then you will pour it for the people who drink it. Very few positions give one person line of sight across the whole chain, and almost none this early in a career.
You will also build a network. Over a year in this territory you will be in front of the buyers, sommeliers, distributor reps, and portfolio managers who make the Midwest wine trade work. Those relationships span beyond just one job function.
The producers behind the portfolio:
We import from families most people in this trade never meet. One has farmed the same parcels for more than four hundred years, passed down through the same name since before the United States existed. Another works ground with archaeological evidence of winemaking from the sixth century.
You will go there. Once a year, sometimes twice, at our expense, you will walk those vineyards, eat at those tables, and taste in those cellars with the people who made the wine. The rest of the year you stay in contact directly, and they visit the market you sell in.
This is why our consultants talk about these wines in a way nobody working from a tech sheet can.
About Aquitaine Wine Company:
AWC is an importer, producer, and brand representative of French wines, based in Bordeaux, with 20 years of international sales across every US state, the UK, and Asia. Our range spans renowned and artisanal brands alongside our own in-house labels.
What the work actually is:
Most of your week is spent walking into wine shops, restaurants, and chain accounts across the Midwest, meeting buyers face to face, pouring wine and developing relationships. You will represent our portfolio across 10 states, and we already have a significant base of sales there, so you are not starting from zero.
You decide how you run the territory. Nobody sets your calendar or your route. What we pay for is results, and compensation is built around account activity: the more accounts you see, the more you earn. Expect regular overnight travel across the wider Midwest, some time each week on reporting and planning, and evenings or the occasional weekend for tastings, trainings, and distributor events. The wine industry does not stop at 6pm.
The people who do well here would rather be in seven accounts by 5pm than in a meeting. They are comfortable walking into a room cold and they like talking to strangers about wine. You do not need a wine background. We are open to people earlier in their career and we will teach you the wine.
Scope of the engagementALL Get in front of buyers in person at wine stores, restaurants, chains, and new prospects, and secure orders
Manage our distributor and wholesaler relationships in your territory, including regular ride-withs with their salesforce
Pour our wines at trade tastings, staff trainings, distributor events, and consumer events
Work with distributor salesforces and portfolio managers on marketing and sales
Coordinate with our team on inventory, and use depletion data to focus your time
Provide regular sales reporting and market feedback under the terms of your contract
What we look for
You want to be out in the market. If you have sold before, we will ask you to describe your last few weeks of field work in specific terms
At least 1 year of work experience, preferably customer-facing: retail, restaurant, hospitality, events, service, or sales. Wine experience is not required
Curiosity about wine and an interest in learning the French regions we work in
Ability to run your own book and set your own targets. Nobody watches your calendar. We look at your results in the market
Comfortable starting conversations with people you have never met, including walking into an account cold
Valid driver's license and your own reliable vehicle
Willingness to travel your territory, including overnights
Legally authorized to work in the United States
Helpful but not required: wine experience, wine education (WSET, sommelier, enology, hospitality), Chicago trade relationships, or a role measured on results not hours.
This engagement is probably not a fit if
You want to work from home, or a hybrid schedule
You would rather email a buyer than drive to them
You dislike driving, or cannot travel overnight on a regular basis
You want fixed 9-to-5 hours, or a manager who sets your daily schedule
You want the security and benefits of a salaried position
You are uncomfortable being told no in person, repeatedly, and going back anyway
Engagement type and contract terms
This is an independent contractor engagement, not employment. You operate as your own business, set your own schedule and routing, and are responsible for your own taxes and business expenses beyond those covered in the contract.
A base fee plus uncapped commission on account visits and depletions. No ceiling on what you can earn
Milestone bonuses against agreed targets
Transit, phone, and per diem costs covered under the contract
An annual invitation to our vineyards in Bordeaux at our expense, once for training and next based on incentive trips with your customers
Direct relationships with the winemakers whose wines you sell
A view across the whole chain, from vineyard to shelf, that very few roles give you
An open portfolio, your own territory, and direct access to the Sales Managers and the CEO
Job category: Sales and Marketing