Our Story
1) 2005
I met my now husband, Claus, back in 2005 in Hamburg, Germany.
We were both living in the same building. I was 35, single, had just moved from Munich to Hamburg, and was working in luxury fashion. He was 45, had just come out of a horrible divorce, and was the CEO of a uniform manufacturer.
We didn't have much in common, except for the fact that we both loved the same Prosecco that we each discovered on different occasions, independently from each other, but in the same place: the island of Sylt in 1994.
2) May 2008
Italian Wedding
Over time, and many bottles of that particular Prosecco, Claus and I eventually moved past our differences and fell in love.
I had three wishes when we got married close to Siena, Italy in 2008. I wanted to live in Miami, I wanted to have our own company, and I wanted to make this Premium Prosecco famous to the world. The third wish is a secret.
3) 2009
First San Simony winery visit
When Claus and I started to travel to the US more often, we discovered that this country really needed a higher quality Prosecco. Although we tried a lot of other Prosecco brands, we could never find anything quite like our beloved San Simone. We agreed it was time to start our own brand, and that is why we reached out to the producers of our favorite Prosecco, who are located in Friuli, Italy, close to Venice. In 2010, we were granted exclusive rights for this Premium Prosecco, as well as a trademark for our brand, SYLTBAR.
4) October 2010
We opened our Miami-based company SYLTBAR® (pronounced Zoothbar)
Importing and distributing 100% naturally produced and delicious Premium Prosecco, Sparkling Rosé, and high excellence quality, finishing food products.
5) 2011
We had our first SYLTBAR tasting on Key Biscayne at the Golden Hog, which is still a customer today. Neither of us had any knowledge about the wine world or the food industry, but as we began to grow our business, we realized that this worked to our advantage.
If you haven’t guessed already, the name represents the Island of Sylt, where we both discovered this Prosecco, and the logo is the shape of the island.
6) 2012
Milams Market in Coconut Grove.
It was very risky though, for us to start a company without any experience at all, and in a country that was brand new to us.
To be honest, we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into and had zero strategy. We believed one thing and one thing only: our Prosecco and gourmet foods were different from any other brand on the market, and we wanted everyone to taste them.
7) 2013
Fancy Food Show New York
It was me and Claus at the forefront of the brand, not a marketing team, not a brand model, and not an ambassador. It was us. Customers got to know us and realized that we were authentic and really believed in the brand. Customers confirmed that they felt better and didn't feel hungover when consuming Mr.
8) 2014
Mar-a-Lago First customer in Palm Beach
Looking back, it was a blessing in disguise that we were new to everything.
We were so awkward when introducing our brand to customers — but that also made us look real. We stood out because of the fact that we were not very knowledgeable about the business, especially when it came to distribution. Unfortunately, we had to stop selling the gourmet food products (even though we loved them because they were so good) because we didn’t have enough budget to keep the food inventory.
9) 2014
LOWEST SUGAR PROSECCO ON THE MARKET
This has been proven through lab tests by the University of Miami Diabetes Research Institute.
Additionally, our producers do not use any chemicals or added sulfites. The wines are vegan and very low in calories.
We informed our producer San Simone about the results and were quite disappointed after working with them for so many years that they never told us.
The only comment from them was “Is this important?“ Because to them, it is obvious to produce 100% naturally.