Founder & Importer
Bretton James
I started D-I Wine because I thought the wines deserved a more direct path to the people drinking them. No brokers, no middlemen — just relationships with producers I’ve visited, vineyards I’ve walked, and wines I’ve chosen firsthand.
The name is a play on ‘direct import’ and ‘do it yourself.’ I built this company from scratch because the conventional import model felt too distant from the people actually making the wine.
Japanese Wine
Japan’s wine regions are among the most exciting and least understood in the world. I source from producers working tiny plots by hand in Hokkaido, Yamanashi, Nagano, and beyond — farmers making wines from Koshu, Kerner, and hybrid varieties you won’t find anywhere else. I travel to Japan regularly and speak enough Japanese to work directly with producers who rarely export.
European Wine
Our European portfolio is rooted in France — Champagne, the Loire, Alsace, Beaujolais — with producers in Spain and Italy. Almost exclusively minimal intervention. I’ve visited every producer we represent, often multiple times. The relationships are personal, and the wines reflect that.
25
Producers
51
Wines
4
Countries
1
Articles
15
Library Entries
Background
Before wine, I worked in technology — building products, writing code, and running teams. D-I Wine is built on the same principles: work directly with the source, remove unnecessary layers, and let quality speak for itself.
I hold a WSET Level 3 certification and have visited wine regions across France, Japan, Spain, and Italy. Every producer in our portfolio has been visited at least once. Many of the tasting notes, library entries, and musings on this site are drawn from those visits — firsthand observations rather than secondhand research.
I’m based in New York City. D-I Wine imports across all 50 states.
Writing
Musings
Long-form writing on wine, producers, and the business of importing. Field notes from vineyard visits, tasting observations, and the occasional digression.
Read musings →Wine Library
Reference entries on producers, regions, grapes, and wine terminology. Written from direct experience where possible, researched from primary sources where not.
Browse the library →New York City · info@d-i.wine