Our Founder, Gerald
A. Hirsch
Gerald
Hirsch was a very passionate historian and educator
in the world of wine. Not only was his business
important to him, aside from his family, it was
his love and greatest interest. He cherished the
many great relationships and acquaintances that
he had established throughout the years. He was
inspired by so many, and he himself inspired so
many.
He spent many of his
early years in the business traveling vineyards
throughout the world taking countless slides and
photographs for the purpose of educating as many
as he could. In recent years he used the art of
the video camera to further enhance the message
he wanted to pass along.
Gerald's father passed
away when he was eighteen which caused him to have
to drop out of school to run McCoy Liquor store
and tavern with his mother. In August 1959 he went
to California and visited the old Cucamonga Winery
on the first day of harvest. The celebration was
so special and the time he spent sharing with the
harvest staff and drinking a 1958 Zinfandel infected
him a with a passion for wine which lasted the rest
of his life.
When he returned from
his trip he joined Angelo Fantozzi and spent the
next 6 years working for Fantozzi Wine Company.
In 1965, he teamed up with Arthur Edelstein of Federated
Distributors and founded Wines Unlimited, one of
the first premier wine distributorships in the country.
It was at Wines Unlimited he established himself
as a National wine celebrity and developed relationships
with many of the most important winegrowers in the
world.
In 1980, he resigned
from Wines Unlimited to pursue his interest in an
even more premium wine distribution operation, and
in April 1981 he was a founding partner of Heritage
Wine Cellars, Limited. He maintained an active role
as Chairman, running the company along with his
son, Steven, as President. He was also still managing
Custom House Wine Merchants, a wine marketing company
he founded in 1980.
It was his dream to
grow Heritage Wine Cellars Ltd. into the premier
wine only distribution company in the US, and today
Heritage Wine Cellars Ltd is one of the most highly
recognized wine distribution companies in the country
representing some of the most important wine producers
in the world. Heritage Wine Cellars Ltd distributes
wine to the finest retail and restaurant customers
in the state of Illinois.
The Chicago wine community
has lost a very special wine celebrity in Gerald
Hirsch. He was respected and admired by many of
today's wine professionals. Just to meet him was
inspirational; and his passion for the art of wine
and food was unique and never ending.