Jerome Joseph Gentes interviews leading wine importer Neal Rosenthal on his new memoir, Reflections of a Wine Merchant, for Publishers Weekly:

Your book is as much about relationships as wine and trade.

I became very involved in my business relationships, especially with grape growers. And their families and their children as well. I would never minimize the fact that you find a line of work to earn a living, but doing any kind of business requires that you cultivate relationships that are part of it. Honesty and integrity are essential components. The respect must be mutual, and not simply commercially. It’s necessary to conduct business this way whether it’s a multimillion-dollar corporation or a small-potatoes operation like ours.

How do you view the art of winemaking today?

We’re in the modern age, but doing work people have done for thousands of years. I have this image of someone in my family some centuries ago taking his wooden cart and his produce and going from town to town to conduct trade. Not as an exercise in nostalgia or sentiment, though. Now we’re at this potentially devastating crossroads. It’s very difficult for these small families to maintain these appellations. The interest isn’t there in the younger generations—the modern world calls to them. And the value of land is astronomical, so when an opportunity to sell comes, it’s almost impossible to resist. On the other hand, these family traditions are deeply grounded, so it’s hard for them to give up.

You can join Neal Rosenthal for a unique tasting of wines from family owned vineyards in France and Italy after his talk on May 20 at the Y.