What makes the Dialect Imports portfolio unique? We wanted to explore that question through the perspective of a Master Sommelier.

In this conversation, David Keck, Master Sommelier, shares his thoughts on the producers, regions, and philosophies that define our portfolio, along with broader insights into Italian wine. We hope this discussion offers a fresh perspective on the wines—and the people—behind Dialect Imports.

Watch the full interview here, or read below to learn more. 

Journey to Becoming a Master Sommelier & Winemaker

Brittany Bittrich: Tell me a little bit about your journey and how you landed here as a Master Sommelier.

David Keck: I’m back in Vermont, where I grew up, now growing grapes and making wine—a twist I never really anticipated. Most recently, before the pandemic, I was in Houston, where I was a partner in a hospitality group, running restaurants and overseeing beverage programs. Before that, I was an opera singer. I spent time in New York and traveled throughout the country, and to some extent the world, performing before moving to Houston to pursue my master’s degree in operatic performance at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. While I was there, I worked in a wine bar. When the economy took a dive in 2008, I found myself weighing two options: move to Europe to continue singing or pursue something different. By then, I’d been bitten by the wine bug. I enrolled in my first Court of Master Sommeliers course, became completely fascinated, and kept going down the rabbit hole. Four years later, I earned my Master Sommelier diploma. By that point, I had gone from running the wine program at a wine bar to overseeing beverage programs for several restaurants, opening my own wine bar, and later opening a honky-tonk cheese and wine shop alongside a Southern European-inspired restaurant. Then, in 2020, my then-partner, now wife, and I decided we wanted to move back to the Northeast to be closer to family. The timing happened to coincide with the beginning of the pandemic. My wife was able to continue working remotely, but my skill set was much more tied to restaurants. When restaurants essentially stopped being a thing overnight, a vineyard here in Vermont became available to lease. So we took the leap. We started growing grapes and making wine, and now, almost six years later, here we are.

Brittany Bittrich: How was that transition, from the restaurant and education side of wine to actually getting your hands in the dirt and making the wines?

David Keck: When you’re studying for the Master Sommelier diploma, you’re learning everything about growing grapes and making wine, but that’s obviously very different from actually doing it. One of the biggest adjustments is going from being the critic, tasting wines, evaluating them, and analyzing what’s great about them, to becoming the person making the wine. It’s an incredibly humbling process. You’re growing the grapes, dealing with everything that can happen in the vineyard, which can be terrifying at times, and then you’re responsible for turning that fruit into something you’re asking people to drink. At the same time, you become acutely aware of every challenge along the way. You have to resist looking too critically at the finished product because you know everything that went into making it. We’re growing hybrid grapes in the woods of Vermont. We’re not farming Grand Cru or Premier Cru vineyards in Burgundy that have been cultivated for thousands of years. The context is completely different, and that perspective teaches you a tremendous amount of humility.

Storytelling, Restaurant Wine Lists & the Dialect Portfolio

Brittany Bittrich: As a Master Sommelier working with restaurants, what are you typically looking for when you’re evaluating a wine portfolio?

David Keck: Being a sommelier is really about being a storyteller. You need something to hold onto when you’re talking about a wine with a guest. Flavor is always first and foremost. I’m not going to pour something into someone’s glass that I wouldn’t want to drink myself. That said, what I enjoy isn’t necessarily what everyone else enjoys, so a big part of the job is understanding different flavor profiles and translating what guests are looking for. You want enough diversity in a wine program to speak to a wide range of people. Once you’ve accomplished that basic goal, having something for everyone, the next question becomes why that wine deserves a place on the list. There are hundreds of thousands of wines in the world today, and many of them are very good. Because we have so many choices, I think we have not only the opportunity, but the obligation, to support people who make wine rather than simply companies that manufacture it. There are plenty of wine factories producing perfectly serviceable wines, and this isn’t a criticism of quality. But there are also incredible farmers and winemakers who dedicate themselves to both the art and the science of what they do. With so many options available, there’s no reason not to support those people. When I’m selecting wines for a restaurant, I’m looking for wines that give me something meaningful to share at the table. Maybe it’s the family behind the wine. Maybe it’s a fascinating place or a unique vineyard. I’m looking for an entry point that creates a personal connection. Simply saying, “This is a Pinot Noir made somewhere by someone,” doesn’t tell a guest anything. They may still enjoy the wine, and that’s great, but it’s not much of a story. And that’s what interests me most.

Brittany Bittrich: What captured your interest in Dialect, and what were your first impressions of the portfolio?

David Keck: I think the Dialect portfolio offers a lot of points of entry for people. The producers Christina and Anthony represent aren’t just names in a catalog, they’re people they have genuine relationships with, whether through longtime friendships, family connections, or years of working together. That personal investment makes the portfolio far more compelling because it’s contagious. You want to work with people who truly believe in what they’re representing, not simply because they’re selling it. I also appreciate the portfolio’s focus on sustainability and organic farming whenever possible. Those values matter. Beyond that, I simply love Italy. I love spending time there, I love Italian wine, and any opportunity to work more closely with Italian producers is exciting for me. The emphasis on female producers also makes the portfolio distinctive. Altogether, those elements create something that feels thoughtful, intentional, and genuinely unique.

Brittany Bittrich: What makes a wine compelling enough to earn a place on a restaurant wine list?

David Keck: We touched on this earlier with the idea of sense of place, which ties directly into the name Dialect. Anyone who has studied Italy knows it’s almost like twenty-one different countries rather than one. Regional identity is such an important part of understanding Italian wine, and that’s something I value deeply. I grow grapes in Vermont, a place most people don’t associate with wine, so every bottle we sell starts with a conversation about where it’s grown, why we’re growing it here, and what makes it unique. Italian wine presents many of those same opportunities. Many of the grapes are indigenous, many are difficult to pronounce, and some exist almost nowhere else in the world. If you’ve never been to Umbria, you may have never tasted Sagrantino. If you’ve never spent time in Abruzzo or Emilia-Romagna, you may not be familiar with the grapes that define those regions. That’s exciting to me. When I’m building a wine list, I’m looking for wines that spark my own curiosity because that enthusiasm naturally carries over to guests. My hope is always to encourage someone to try something they might never have ordered otherwise. Some guests simply want another Pinot Grigio or another Napa Chardonnay, and that’s perfectly fine. Hopefully I can pour them one that’s especially well made. But if they’re willing to trust me for a few minutes, maybe I can introduce them to something completely new. That’s much harder to do if your wine list only consists of wines you’re not genuinely excited about.

Hidden Gems in the Portfolio & Final Thoughts

Brittany Bittrich: Which wines in the portfolio do you think deserve more attention from sommeliers, restaurants, and wine lovers?

David Keck: That’s a great question. I always feel like the classic regions deserve another look. As sommeliers, I know I’ve been guilty of focusing on the famous producers from places like Piedmont and Tuscany, waiting for our allocation of the big names to arrive and concentrating on wines with long-established reputations. Those wines are wonderful, and this isn’t meant to diminish them. What excites me about the Dialect portfolio is that it introduces producers who are less well known but come from those same classic regions.

Take Tibaldi, for example. Their wines are incredibly approachable, beautifully made, and offered at a fantastic price point. They’re crafted by passionate people in a beautiful place, and they give us the opportunity to experience Piedmont through the lens of a producer that many guests may not already know.

I’m also really excited by the wines from Condé and Chiara Condello in Emilia-Romagna. Most people associate Emilia-Romagna with affordable, easy-drinking Lambrusco, which, to be completely honest, is one of my favorite beverages. I’d be crazy to tell people they shouldn’t drink more Lambrusco. But these wines show a completely different side of the region. They’re elegant, distinctive, and often unexpected for people who don’t think of Emilia-Romagna as a fine wine destination. One of my favorite moments is pouring those wines and watching someone’s expectations change. They’ll often say, “Oh, Emilia-Romagna… so this is a Lambrusco?” And I get to say, “Actually, it’s something completely different.”

I also think Southern Italy deserves a lot of attention. The wines from Sicily, and especially Etna, have always spoken to me stylistically. The Iuppa wines are delicious, expressive, and simply enjoyable to drink. Sicily has experienced an incredible rise over the past twenty years. Twenty-five years ago, you rarely saw Sicilian wines on restaurant lists. Then interest exploded, and suddenly many of the region’s most famous producers became nearly impossible to find. Much like Tibaldi in Piedmont, I think Iuppa offers an opportunity to discover beautifully made, classic wines before they’re household names. They’re exciting to talk about, but more importantly, they’re exciting to pour.

And then, of course, you have to mention Tabarrini. It’s such an important part of how this portfolio began. The Sagrantino is incredibly special. It’s a wine with real character that brings something entirely different to the table. Although I’ll admit, it’s a little difficult for me to think about Sagrantino in the middle of summer. Those wines are like a warm hug—I want them in December when it’s snowing outside.

Brittany Bittrich: One final question. If you had to describe the Dialect portfolio in three words, what would they be?

David Keck: Thoughtful. Delicious. Unique.

It’s a thoughtfully assembled portfolio filled with delicious wines, and it’s genuinely unique. There really aren’t many books out there quite like this one.