As a first-year sales rep for the fine-wine division of Southern Wine and Spirits, Josephine Terlato, 24, is careful not to trade on her famous last name. “I don’t want my buyers to have any biases,” she says.
Her father, Bill, is the president and CEO of wine producer and importer Terlato Wine Group, and her grandfather, Tony, is the company’s popular chairman and founder. They can’t help but brag about her performance for the distributor; in the last few months, she’s blown away her sales goals and grown her North Shore territory by more than 50 percent at restaurants with established wine lists like Northbrook’s Prairie Grass Café and Glenview’s Café Lucci.
It helps that she’s stop-in-your-tracks beautiful, poised beyond her years and armed with an encyclopedic knowledge of wines, earned through summers spent working at her family’s vineyards and those of wine stars like Michel Chapoutier in France’s Rhône Valley.
“Going to work with Southern, my whole attitude was, I’m here to learn,” she says. “I have a newfound appreciation for what it really requires of people,” like weekend wine tastings and all-hours phone calls. “It’s a really good way to learn the industry. It’s the foundation for everything we do.”
Her grandfather credits her early exposure to wine industry icons like Angelo Gaja—who would play catch with Josephine and her siblings when he visited her parents’ home—with her maturity. “That’s what comes from being with important people at a young age,” he says. “The tougher the customer, the happier I am because I know she can handle it. She has the answers, she’s very polite and she doesn’t get flushed. Sometimes they try to see how hard they can push, and that’s great for her.”
Still, Josephine says she has a lot to learn before she goes to work for her father and grandfather. “I respect what my family has done, but I’m just starting out,” she says. “I don’t expect any praise or any special treatment. I want to earn the same respect that my dad and uncle have earned for themselves.”
Her grandfather laughs. “This past week one of her managers said, ‘I hope you’re going to leave her with us,’” he says. For his part, he trusts her to pick the right moment to join the family empire—and help it continue to grow.
