Formed in January 2008 by Todd M. Wernstrom, a veteran wine writer for a number of nationally and regionally distributed publications, Ice Bucket Selections imports and wholesales wines made by family-owned and family-operated producers. Given the production limitations of many such wineries, distribution is limited exclusively to New York City restaurants, wine bars and retail shops with a like-minded interest in authentic, artisanal winemaking. The Ice Bucket Selections portfolio is weighted toward France and Italy, and filled out with contributions from California, Oregon, Washington, and New York’s North Fork, Finger Lakes and Hudson Valley regions. The wines fall within the suggested retail price range of $10 to $100 per bottle.

Producers represented by Ice Bucket Selections may not be well known outside of their appellations, but without exception, they all make wines that are true to their place of origin. And also without exception, they do so in some of the world’s most esteemed vineyards. The wines come from well-known and long-established appellations, such as Barolo, Champagne, Chambertin, Côte-Rôtie, Gigondas, Hengst, Meursault, Sancerre, Soave, Taurasi and Vouvray, to name a few. As a consumer, your decision to take a chance on a producer you are not familiar with from a well-known place is an easier one than picking an unknown producer from an equally unknown region.

Wernstrom, a contributor to Wine News, a 25-year-old, bimonthly magazine that has garnered numerous James Beard nominations and awards, will frequently pour Ice Bucket Selections wines and discuss them with consumers when requested by the wine stores, wine bars and restaurants that carry them. As the one who sources the wines, no one, outside of the actual producer, is better able to communicate why these particular wines are compelling, and therefore worth buying. Ice Bucket Selections doesn’t just sell its wines to the venues where you shop. Instead, Ice Bucket Selections partners with its customers to help them to help you make your buying choices. As the ultimate consumer, you are the one who decides whether Ice Bucket Selections wines are worth trying and buying.

Ice Bucket Selections wines are authentic. They are compelling, not because a critic has bestowed a score on them, but because of the stories of the families that make the wines. Those stories, coupled with the unique combination of the climate, geography and history of the places those wines come from, will give you the consumer a real opportunity to connect to each family and therefore each bottle you buy.