BIOGRAPHY – Brad L. Nichols

Standard (750ml), Imperial/ Methusaleh (6L), Melchior (18L)

Photo Location: Jim King’s Legendary Crawfish Boil

 

BRAD L. NICHOLS, “Bootlegger of Ethereal Beauty”

 

Key Account Manager / Brand Manager & Company Educator,

BRYANT DISTRIBUTING COMPANY OF KENTUCKY

 

Websites: www.winesutra.com  / www.bryantdistributing.com

E-mail: brad.lee.nichols@gmail.com  / bradnichols@bryantdistributing.com

Cell: (502) 648-4544

 

BACKGROUND & EXPERIENCE:

THE PAST

James M. Gabler’s Passions: The Wines and Travels of Thomas Jefferson tells us that upon his visit to Heidelberg, Jefferson made the long, steep ascent to the castle and thought it the “most noble ruin” he had ever seen: “Among the ruins was a round tower and the remains of a chapel with statues of saints and warriors looking down from niches along massive walls covered with ivy. These noble ruins were the handiwork of man and nature. A hundred years before Jefferson’s visit, the Heidelberg Castle had been ravaged by wars, but the final insult was delivered by nature in the form of a series of lightning strikes in 1764 that reduced the castle to the ruinous condition that Jefferson found. He made precise measurements of the Great Tun of Heidelberg, which had been built in 1751 to replace an older vat. Although the tun was empty, Jefferson calculated that it was capable of holding 283,000 bottles. From the edge of the precipice looking down on the Neckar River and across a green valley to the Black Forest, Jefferson was reminded of the view from Petrarch’s chateau at Vauclause and in majesty thought it ‘would stand well alongside the pyramids of Egypt.’ His notes do not tell us what time of day he witnessed this scene, but at sunset with the river and mountains bathed in a pink glow, the view is unforgettable.”

 

A century and a half-later, after Prohibition ended in 1933, Albert Vontz sold his ownership in a testament to a magnificent larghetto in D major written for Stadler (a tavern-deli named Mozart) and invested in the Vienna Brewery. Four years later, Vienna Brewery was sold to his brother-in-law and Albert began running the Dayton, Ohio branch of Heidelberg Brewery located in Covington, Kentucky. In 1938 Albert purchased the distributing company from the brewery and bought a 5,000 square-foot warehouse on East Steward in Dayton. Albert’s only child, Albert W. Vontz Jr., became active in the business in 1947, and the word “growth” became an integral part of Heidelberg Distributing’s vision. 

 

In July 2007, Heidelberg Distributing employed Brad L. Nichols as Fine Wine Buyer for the Kentucky Division with the responsibility of acquiring new, exciting portfolios and wines to introduce in the expansion of the Kentucky market with two principles guiding his own decision-making: “Integrity” and “Growth.” ‘Growth’ led him to sales success by expanding the Kentucky marketplace statewide, creating a demand for extra delivery days, acquiring world-class portfolios and becoming the #2 division in Bordeaux sales in the company, behind Cleveland, Ohio, a far larger market. ‘Integrity’ led him to always uphold his beliefs and positions, to the mannerisms in which business should be conducted, and to great opportunities in his career  that would ensue.

 

 

THE PRESENT

At a seminar to University of Florida Business School students, Warren Buffett stated that he knew a gentlemen that seeked three qualities in a hire with the following advice: “There was a fellow who used to say he looked for three things in hiring people, he looked for Integrity, Intelligence and Energy… and he said if the person didn’t have the first two, the latter two will kill him.” Building lasting relationships based upon Integrity throughout the industry at various levels ranging from wine-makers to importers, suppliers and representatives to local restaurants and businesses to the community itself is a testament to one of the greatest joys afforded in life: the ability to work with others to create something together that will continue long after one’s own efforts and far beyond one’s self. And while we continue to strive to create something that is greater than an individual, we are constantly reminded that one person’s passion can indeed make a difference.

 

(Tyrian purple, according to Pliny the Elder in his writings Natural History, was actually “… the Tyrian hue … is considered of the best quality when it has exactly the colour of clotted blood, and is of a blackish hue to the sight, but of a shining appearance when held up to the light; hence it is that we find Homer speaking of ‘purple blood’.” 1981 E. Guigal La Mouline from the cellar and generosity of Tom Black, Nashville, TN - 1 of 3 great birth year wines I have had the fortune of tasting and sharing with friends (…even considering 1981 was not the world’s greatest wine vintage – we must be reminded that even in a less favorable vintage, there are still wine estates producing good-to-great wines), including 1981 Vieux Telegraphe Chateauneuf-du-Pape at Domaine Vieux Telegraphe, Daniel Brunier’s First Vintage, and 1981 Prado Enea Muga once obtained from Mark Maher that was tasted alongside 1961 Latour, 1982 Mouton-Rothschild and an 1834 Vinhos Barbeito Malvasia at Blake Layne’s in Bowling Green, KY).

  

CURRENTLY, 

Brad endeavors as a Key Account Manager/Brand Manager & Company Educator at BRYANT DISTRIBUTING COMPANY OF KENTUCKY, a 75 Year-Old Distribution, Import & Wholesale Company founded by Jefferson Bryant in 1934, when Prohibition ended in Kentucky! BRYANT DISTRIBUTING COMPANY, a Kentucky-Owned and Family-Operated Company that services their beloved home state of Kentucky, is the longest-and-last surviving Kentucky-Owned and Family-Operated Wine, Beer & Spirits Distribution Company. “They hold good-bead, almost goose-eye,” David Maurer might add; and a sense of Kentucky Heritage and Tradition, with the Advocacy and Pursuit of (Authentic, Quality-Driven, True) Wines, Beers & Spirits, is a welcome challenge and opportunity.

 

When Asked to Write a Few Words About Himself, Brad Responded Thus: 

 

“Wine into Words… I once read a beautiful passage, ’The Philosophy of Wine is an apology for the rare, solemn instants of life, of ease, play, and self-forgetting serenity. This is the world of dionysian, Mediterranean intoxication, the bee-master’s half-awake, half-dreaming meditation on an August afternoon, under the nut tree, the pure, glittering serenity of Orpheus: some of the rare, idyllic moments lived….’ It is Robert Louis Stevenson’s Apology for Idlers; Orson Welles’ Essential Laziness; it is even equated with Barbecue. (Barbecue. n. 1657, from Amer.Sp. barbacoa, from Arawakan (Haiti) barbakoa “framework of sticks,” the raised wooden structure the Indians used to either sleep on or cure meat. Originally “meal of roasted meat or fish,” modern popular noun sense of “grill for cooking over an open fire” is 1931). An Invaluable Lesson… Any Business Discussion conducted at R&S Barbecue (aka R&S Pharmaceuticals) in Thompkinsville, KY will eminently be more profitable than a board-(BORED)-room. (Hospitality; Xenia; Jacques Derrida). We must pursue the meaningul desires of our Hearts; we must know that we can Amaze and Astonish ourselves, time and again, time and again…. Business, Style, Life, Love (and even Wine) Can be Anything A Man or a Woman Seeks. ‘The Wine Biz’ is amongst the most Barbaric, Boisterous, Challenging, Convivial, Crazy, Exciting, Hysterical, Indigenous, Intriguing, Fun, Luxuriant, Mad, Natural, Primitive, Rampant, Riotous, Tempestous, Uncivilized and Wild… And I Will Have It No Other Way.

 

Like Boidyanath Sarma, ’What more can I say?/ The country was once full of madmen/ Where is there a madman like Ramakrsna any more?’

 

“Every Morning I Tell Myself: ‘You Can Do Nothing About It…Submit’.”

- Jean Cocteau (artist of 1947 Mouton-Rothschild), Professional Secrets 

 

In the moments that can only be revealed in the truth of Language and Friendship, Nichols has beed described as:

 

“Ora Et Labora. Brad Nichols embodies the spirit’s unquenchable thirst for beauty, love and truth. His works form a wellspring of inspiration. Blessed with an almost supernatural energy which allows acute powers of observation, he stands among the great analytical minds of our age. In ways that draw historical comparison to Thomas Jefferson, Rumi and Pliny the Elder, he extolls the virtues of wine. Simply put, his goal is to find wines that offer far more than their price. A natural affinity forms between Brad and producers who share this same uncompromising devotion. This results in an extraordinary experience for us, the consumers. True success is measured in happiness. Truly, he has realized that the only happiness greater than finding extraordinary wines, is sharing them.”

 

“The Secret to Art, Friendship is the Gift of Tears.” 

 

 

CONTACT:

BRAD L. NICHOLS, “Cabbie of Crash Cars”

Key Account Manager / Brand Manager & Company Educator

BRYANT DISTRIBUTING COMPANY OF KENTUCKY 

E-mail: brad.lee.nichols@gmail.com /bradnichols@bryantdistributing.com 

Cell: (502) 648-4544

Website: www.winesutra.com / www.bryantdistributing.com

 

BRYANT DISTRIBUTING COMPANY OF KENTUCKY - 7925 National Turnpike Suite # 120 – Louisville, KY 40214

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