Today we’d like to introduce you to Marisa Sergi.
Hi Marisa, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
I became interested in wine from a young age – I grew up in an Italian-centric household – full of food, family, friends…and wine. I did not know what I wanted to do when I graduated high school, but discovered that Cornell University offered a degree in Viticulture & Enology – I was so ecstatic when I found out I was accepted into the program. During those four years, I met a lot of amazing people and refined my winemaking skills. As part of the program, I had to create a capstone project in order to graduate. I proposed to my advisor that instead of doing lab research, may I start a wine label and try to get it into a retail store – she said yes and I was off to the races! I kept in mind what wine labels “popped” out of me when walking wine aisles at the grocery stores. What stuck were the ones that had simple yet bold designs. With that direction, RedHead Wine was born! (I recently rebranded to Reds in 2021) But, with a team of four, RedHead Wine had a full-fledged business plan, and team RedHead Wine traveled to a few business plan competitions. These experiences were initially to receive feedback to help prepare for when I had to present the capstone to the V & E program, but after receiving prize money and tons of great feedback, I wondered if RedHead could be a “real” business. I ultimately decided to work full-time at a winery out in CA. I was not 100% sure if I wanted to work for myself right out of college. I decided if I were still thinking about the brand in a year, I was resigned. Exactly 12 months later, that is exactly what I did. In 2016, I moved 3,000 miles back to my childhood bedroom ditching sunny CA…. and put every dollar I earned into starting my own label. With that experience, in 2018, I decided to help L’uva Bella Winery build their distribution business – along with selling RedHead, I was also able to help build that portfolio. Fast forward to May 2020, my husband and I, fully acquired L’uva Bella Winery allowing my parents to retire and being able to make our own risks to build L’uva Bella into a national CPG Wine company. After two years of scaling the business, you can find LB’s wines in 10 states and counting. We also sell our wines online if you cannot find them in-store.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
It has been a crazy/bumpy road. When the pandemic hit, we did not know if the state was going to shut us down. We had to shut down the bistro, which hurt us, but we knew we could find a way to make up for those losses. After putting our heads together, our team and I came up with a campaign to sell wines online and expand our distribution sales outside of the two states we were currently selling in. We were able to make up for the loss of closing our bistro and scale our retail and distribution business in the meantime. Regardless of that situation, the wine industry is super competitive and it is very difficult to gain traction. I have a great sales support team and marketing strategy to help overcome the many hurdles we face when trying to expand to new markets.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about L’uva Bella Winery?
L’uva Bella Winery was founded in the early 2000s – the business originally only sold winemaking juice to the home winemaker in six-gallon buckets during the fall, but that quickly changed once we gained our wine license! We are Ohio’s largest family-owned winery and create modern wine brands, high-end California reserve wines, and private label brands for retailers. We also have a bistro open from Thursday – to Saturday starting at 11 am. What we are most recently proud of is that our Bourbon Barrel-aged Cabernet Sauvignon received 92 points at a renowned California wine competition. Our wine beat out $80.00 California cabernets, too! Our high-end wines are all made from California grapes and are crafted in small batches. You can only find our high-end wines sold at our bistro or on our website. What sets L’uva Bella apart from others is that we are always keeping our customers in mind when it comes to the wines we create, the services we offer, and special events. We value our customers like family and that is how you are treated when you visit and enjoy LB Wines. We are proud of our brands Purple Rain Wine, Reds’ Wine, and Passion Wine – you can now find them sold state-wide in OH, PA, WV, TN, VA / DC, NC, KY, AL, and soon GA! Our brands are fun, and fresh, and are perfectly paired with life’s sweet moments!
The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
The most important lesson I have learned from the COVID-19 crisis is to consider that you may not know what someone is going through. Leading and speaking with empathy is a priority of mine and I like to consider that when working with retailers, distributors, and customers. This world can always use more care and kindness and I like to make that my mission each day.
Contact Info:
- Email: wine@LuvaBella.com
- Website: https://luvabella.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/luvabellawines/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Luvabellawinery
