Jacqueline Lee

Wines & Vines, Nov, 1996 by Larry Walker

That sense of humor has been pushed to the wall now and again, of course. There is a certain state - perhaps I shouldn't name names, Lee will have to deal with them again - that requires any notice of a change of distributor to be sent by registered mail. And only registered mail. Once she sent a notice by certified mail and received a call from a state employee who said, "I have the notice here in my hand, but it was sent by certified mail, not registered mail, therefore I can't act on it." Lee had to send it again.

"Over the years, however, I have learned that the state administrators aren't ogres. I've made many friends at that level who are just doing their jobs like everyone else. If treated with the respect they deserve, they often knock themselves out for us," Lee said.

Lee, who was born in England, grew up in Malaya (now Malaysia) and was educated under a system developed by Cambridge University for convents in Malaya. (Probably a first-rate place to learn compliance.) She passed the Cambridge entrance examination at the age of 14, second in her class and, as she put it, "lolligagged around the beaches until my family moved to Canada when I was 16. It was either that or stay in Malaysia and be made very unwelcome I'm sure after they obtained independence."

I thought the question of just what lolligagging around the beach included would not be appropriate in a family magazine, so we passed on to other matters. After some time in Canada (working in the Royal Bank of Canada) she moved to Santa Monica and then to Tiburon where, in 1970, she became secretary to the late Pete Friedman at Tiburon Vintners.

"That was the beginning of my experience in the wine industry. It can be said that everything I needed to know about the wine business, I learned from Pete," Lee said. (It was about that time that Friedman developed the personalized label business for Windsor Vineyards.)

Lee joined Vintage Wine Merchants in 1976 as controller and became vice president in 1979. "That was the heyday of the marketing company. The most important thing I learned about was compliance," Lee recalled.

"You have to remember that the wine business in the 1970s was just starting to make big strides. More and more wineries were beginning to sell wines out of state. Compliance matters sort of evolved. Having had no experience in the subject, I learned by doing. I called each state, asked what they needed to have from us, made a lot of notes and jumped right in. I think that the compliance administrators at the state levels learned right along with us; as the wine shipments increased, so did the number of state employees. Winery owners were beginning to realize the importance of a compliance program," Lee said.

She left Vintage Wine Merchants in 1983, to start her own office for small winery owners. "I envisioned it as a service for those wineries which could not afford to pay a law firm for compliance information and furthermore, a service which would actually do all their compliance for them, not simply an advice bureau."

She thought at the time that if she had about four clients she could profitably run a small business, could offer reasonable rates and the clients would not have to do any more of their compliance work, whether BATF, ABC or out-of-state.

"I would obtain operating permits for the winery, register labels out of state, appoint distributors, post prices, make sure sales representatives held the right licenses and so on. And maintain it all on a regular monthly basis."

It was clearly a service the industry was ready to embrace. Lee's first client was John Parducci of Parducci winery, followed quickly by Sutter Home, Chateau Montelena, Franciscan, Guenoc and Raymond.

"I am proud to say that those wineries are still with us. Meanwhile, I have increased our portfolio to a total of 25 American and import clients in the wine, beer and spirits industries - including Robert Mondavi, Neil Empson, Wilson Daniels and Stimson Lane to name only a few - which combined represent approximately 510 brands," she said.

Jackie was quick to point out that she hasn't done all that by herself. Her associate Margie Mitchell joined the company in 1986. "She has been a tremendously loyal supporter for ten years. Together we have established a good system for getting a huge volume of paperwork done every day." Lee added that they had kept a low profile over the years from choice. "We would rather be dedicated to our clients' constant compliance health than be out there beating the bushes or giving speeches."

What about the future in compliance?

"Suppliers still will face a continuous and intricate maze of regulatory requirements in all states in the foreseeable future," she said. "It's not going to go away just because we want it to. However, the state regulators will eventually have to give in a little regarding direct shipments. In the age of Internet and telemarketing firms, it's not like they are going to be able to stop a speeding train. This is one time when mediation will work wonders. If we give the states what they need in terms of taxes, and don't try to avoid honoring some kind of new system, then I believe they will be more likely to establish some new guidelines for limited direct-to-consumer wine shipments. While some distributors might think it would hurt their business, it really would actually add to it in the long run as we educate consumers about wine."