European Wine Group
European Wine Group was formed in May 2005 when International Gourmet Corp and New Castle Imports joined forces.

International Gourmet Corp was founded in 1995 by François Garnier. After almost 30 years spent in the shrimp business in Africa, François was ready for a change. His son Vincent, who got his MBA from Georgia Tech, was working for a wholesale bakery. Vincent was involved with some investors who wanted to start a wine distribution company in Georgia. After careful analysis, François decided to start on his own an import business to be able to cover more states. He went back to France and started looking for traditional, most of the time organic, vineyards from the Languedoc Roussillon region in Southern France. François believed that southern France was totally undiscovered and went to find small estates in some of the best terroirs, including Minervois and Saint Chinian. While he was looking for the wineries, the Licence applications were filed, and by May 1995 IGC was started, with 11 wineries from the Languedoc that were not represented in the US. Then François quickly developed a nice network of boutique distributors across the US from Georgia to California. Progressively, the portfolio grew outside of the Languedoc with wines from the Rhone valley, Alsace, and Bordeaux. In only 3 years, François had created a network of over 25 distributors in 25 states and a portfolio of about 100 wines. But his philosophy was still intact: bring traditional terroir-driven wines to the table—wines with a story, distinctive flavors and respect for nature. In 1998, his son Vincent joined International Gourmet Corp to help his father boost the company sales and the portfolio.

In 2003, Vincent traveled to Spain to discover some incredible wines, made by young, dynamic winemakers working with passion to create the same level of quality that International Gourmet was reputed for. The success was immediate. Within six months, International Gourmet was considered a solid player in the Spanish wine arena. With a handful of wineries, IGC was able to grow its business even more.

Then in 2005, it was Italy’s turn! Vincent traveled to Italy with the same spirit: find small, unknown vineyards with unparalleled quality. There again, the success was quick to come. With only six wineries from Piedmont and Tuscany, International Gourmet sold over 2000 cases on its first year in the very competitive Italian wine market.

In May 2005, International Gourmet Corp represented over 200 wines in 41 states with the same passion for terroir.

Clemson University pals Don Quattlebaum and Whirl Miller created New Castle Imports in 1991. The story started one early one morning in October 1990 when Don called Whirl and excitedly asked him if he had received Robert Parker's newsletter, The Wine Advocate. Don began to read the reviews of several highly rated French wines and said, "Listen to this - they have 'No known American Importer!'" The seed was planted. The next few weeks were filled with several "what-if" meetings. Don's brother and Hayden's sister, along with their spouses, became extremely interested in the project and were invited to become investors. In February 1991 the seven original stockholders of the yet-to-be-named company found themselves in Chateauneuf du Pape, in the southern Rhone valley of France. Meetings had been pre-arranged with several of the producers mentioned in Parker's newsletter, along with a few more appointments with some of the other vigneron from the area. The winemakers were skeptical; after all, every American that came there claimed to be an importer, but they were usually just looking for free samples or a better price. It was not an easy task to convince any of the winemakers of the American's sincerity. Letters of credit had to be produced before any discussion of quantities or price could begin. The group from South Carolina prevailed though, leaving France with authorization to sell the best seventeen-wines they had tasted, all of which came from eight different producers.

After returning home, the group decided it was time to give the company a name. Because of their experience in Chateauneuf du Pape, the name "New Castle Imports" became the consensus choice. The name "Chateauneuf du Pape" translates to "New Castle of the Pope." It just seemed appropriate.

Like most new business ventures, New Castle Imports started out working hard to establish itself and, most importantly, make money. Throughout the history of the company though, one facet of the business has never been rushed; that being wine selection. In the second year, wines from the northern Rhone were added. The year after that came Burgundies. Along the way, Champagne and sparkling wine from the Loire valley became part of the portfolio. Some Bordeaux slowly found their way in, as did some wines from the Coteaux du Languedoc. It was a full ten-years before a wine from Alsace was deemed good enough to carry the new Castle Imports name.

Don and Whirl always agreed on one thing - if it is going to have the New castle Imports label on the back of the bottle, it must be the best wine available from that particular region, and preferably made by a smaller, "artisan" style producer. All wines are chosen in blind tastings against similar available products, as well as their competition. The "winners" are chosen on a quality basis only, with price being of little or no importance. All wine is shipped to the United States in refrigerated cargo containers to ensure cellar integrity. Equally important, all New Castle Imports wines are stored in a temperature and humidity controlled warehouse, reducing the possibility of "cooked" wines to almost zero.

In May 2005 New Castle Imports represented over two hundred-wines from over twenty-different producers. The wines were sold in every major wine market in the United States. But the philosophy was still an unbridled passion for great French wine.