In the summer of 1976, an eighteen-year-old from Santiago, Chile arrived in California two days before America’s bicentennial celebration. He had a soccer scholarship, very little English, and no idea he was about to help change the American wine industry forever.
Alex came to San Jose State on a soccer scholarship, chasing a spot with the San Jose Earthquakes. A foot injury in his senior year ended that dream before it began.
Standing at a crossroads, he turned to what he knew from home — wine. He noticed the shelves of California wine shops were full of European imports, but the great wines of Chile and Argentina were essentially invisible. Working out of his garage, doing everything himself, Alex set out to change that.
What grew from that garage became Guarachi Wine Partners — one of the first importers of South American wine in the country, and in 2010, honored by Wine Enthusiast as Importer of the Year.
