Today we’d like to introduce you to Kerri Lesh.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
After a love affair with studying and traveling throughout parts of Latin America and Spain beginning in high school, I developed an appreciation for languages, particularly those that have been minoritized. I first learned about the Basque language, Euskara, in the late 1990s and have never lost interest in it. I moved from Kansas to Austin, Texas, not once but twice in an effort to discover my professional and academic interests. It was there at a wine bar called Max’s Wine Dive that I met some incredibly inspirational folks while beefing up my knowledge of the wine industry. It was also there that I really first discovered the iconic Basque wine, Txakoli. With a growing passion for wine in general, I traveled to Chile to volunteer at a winery for a few weeks and even went on a side adventure to find a Chilean version of Chacoli with my coworkers. Upon my return to Austin, I applied to the PhD program at the Center for Basque Studies at the University of Nevada, Reno and was accepted. In the summer of 2016, I studied at an intensive Basque language school in Lazkao where I ate, slept, and learned Basque for almost 3 months. This helped prepare me for the following year’s interviews when I’d be studying how the Basque language was used to market various gastronomic products and how it could affect language revitalization. About that same time, I had also passed the Certified Wine Specialist exam. I taught for a little over a year at UNR after graduating and coming back home to Kansas. It was here in KC that I started spreading the word of Txakoli to the Midwest. Over the last couple years, in addition to working as a Smithsonian Journeys Expert and teaching at a local college, I started my own wine importing company, Basque Wine Imports. (What a time to try start an importing business!) Alongside importing wines from the Basque Country, I have also started working with Get Away a la Carte to develop programs to visit the Basque producers from whom I import. The tentative success of selling my wines in the Midwest could not have happened without the support of several women’s organizations I am a part of.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Starting a wine importing business has been extremely difficult. The amount of knowledge I needed to learn, tariffs, and drastic increases in gasoline prices have made importing quite a challenge.
As you know, we’re big fans of Topa Wine Imports, LLC, but my DBA is Basque Wine Imports. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
I currently sell Gorka Izagirre and Zudugarai Txakoli in Kansas and Missouri, with hopes to expand to neighboring states. As a Certified Specialist of Wine and Basque Studies-Anthropology graduate, my greatest joy is teaching people about the Basque Country, its politics, culture, history, and climate, all through wine.
I’ve known several of the Basque wine producers for a decade now, and knew that one of my main goals was to introduce the Midwest to styles of Basque wines they hadn’t tried yet, such as a Traditional (Champagne) Method-style, a red Txakoli made with 100% Hondarrabi Beltza that barely sees any oak, as well as some very ageable Txakoli. After leading group tours with several partnerships to the Basque Country, an interest grew from consumers in the Midwest to travel to the Basque Country. This was the push I needed to start traveling with the intention of visiting the producers I import. 2026 will be our first trip (that filled within 3 weeks of opening!), and we already have folks interested in the 2027 trip!
You can visit @basquewineimports and www.basquewineimports for updates on dinners I have scheduled throughout the Midwest, trips to the Basque Country, and new wines coming to the US soon!
What matters most to you?
Creating understanding between people. I find that in much of what I do, my goal is not only to be an educator and teach, but to more specifically create understanding. I want people who try my wines to feel like they’ve opened a door to a new culture, language, and history across the ocean through the wines and stories I share.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.basquewineimports.com
- Instagram: @basquewineimports
