Celebrating 10 years of good wine from good people.
Sparked from the simple idea that folks deserve good wine, from good people, at a good price, Tim Banks founded 802 Distributors in 2014 to make this idea become a reality. Since then, 802 continues to be Vermont’s fastest growing wine supplier, bringing the best hand-harvested, natural, biodynamic, sustainable, organic, and additive-free wines to Vermonters from all over the world. Initially working with smaller, family-owned winemakers, we now represent all of the best importers who bring in hard-to-find, quality wines from the new and old world.
As people wish to cultivate quality relationships with the products they buy, and the people who they buy them from, it is our mission to play as big of a role as we can in facilitating this low-intervention supply chain.
Our Mission
Where great service and great wine intertwine
Locally-owned and based in Burlington, VT, we are dedicated to introducing high-quality, hard-to-find wines to Vermont. With the help of our importing partners, we’ve scoured the globe to uncover hidden gems and bring them back to Vermont for over ten years. The majority of our wines come from small family wineries; they exhibit the care and dedication of generations of winemakers and are a true expression of their terroir. We take pride in introducing a vast catalog of organic and natural wines to the Vermont marketplace.
Blending old traditions with modern advancements, many of these wineries combine biodynamic practices and organic farming methods with hand-picking, sorting and processing to deliver highly-acclaimed and globally sought-after wines.
Our World of Wines
In every corner of Vermont we deliver spectacular wines from over a dozen countries from all around the world. With an ever-expanding catalog, we work with renowned importers to offer a vast and expertly curated selection of thoughtfully-crafted wines from France, Italy, the United States, Spain, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, South Africa, Argentina, Chile, Croatia, Georgia, Greece, Australia, Portugal, the Czech Republic, New Zealand, England, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Canada, Hungary, Uruguay, Cyprus and Slovakia.
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There are plenty of adjectives out there to describe the many different varieties and styles of wine that we work with. We thought it would be helpful to shed some light on some of the words you’ll often see alongside our wines.
Glossary below
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Scroll down to learn more!
Biodynamic
Far from a new practice, biodynamic farming has become an important method for many winegrowers to preserve the quality of their vineyards. To be considered biodynamic, winemakers must take a holistic approach in the vineyard. Like organic wine, biodynamic wine starts with grapes farmed without synthetic pesticides or fertilizers, and is turned into wine using few, if any, additives. What happens on a biodynamic farm goes above and beyond organic farming. To do this, winegrowers pay attention to how the phases of the sun and moon affect vine growth, pruning and harvesting. In addition, the labor on the farm is done by hand, rather than by machine. Also, instead of growing just grapes, winegrowers plant herbs, clover and wild grasses among the vines to help loosen the soil, attract beneficial insects and birds and help nourish billions of soil microorganisms that are key to the vineyard's overall health. As a result, biodynamic wines tend to be unique and full of individual, undiluted character of the places that produced them.
Sustainability
One of our core values is to bring in and distribute wines that are produced sustainably. To do this, we seek out and partner with winemakers and importers who are environmentally-conscious and forward-thinking. We believe that sustainability improves the quality of our lives, protects our ecosystem and preserves natural resources for future generations. For us, sustainability is associated with an organization's holistic approach, taking into account everything, from manufacturing to logistics to customer service. We are mindful to work with winemakers and importers that reflect these values.
Natural & Organic
Natural wines are often made by small-scale, independent producers. Natural wines are made from grapes that are hand-picked from sustainable, organic or biodynamic vineyards. The wines are fermented with no added yeasts. No additives are included in fermentation and little to no sulfites are added. Of course, there is no official or regulated definition of natural wine. Without the use of additives, sulfites or any other manipulation, many believe that natural wines are better for you.
Very simply, organic wines are produced with organically grown grapes. In order to have organically grown grapes, the wine grower must implement a specific set of practices to maintain their vines. To be organic, winemakers must exclude the use of artificial chemical fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides and herbicides. However, organic doesn't imply that the wine is free from additives. Things like yeast, egg whites and animal enzymes are allowed in organic wines. An organic wine doesn't necessarily mean that it is vegan.
Low Intervention, No-additives
Winemaking is a complicated process with many steps. Almost all commercially-made wines include additives in their process. The United States allows seventy-six chemical additives in wines, and winemakers aren't legally obligated to disclose whether they've used them. The wines in our portfolio are selected because they are free from the many chemicals or additives that are prevalent in today's mass-produced wines. Some additives in commercial wine include Mega Purple, Ultra Red, Velcorin (dimethyl dicarbonate), oak chips and sawdust, as well as fungicides, mycotoxins and phthalates due to industrial farming practices. Our wines do not contain these additives.