How The Wine Queen Of Queens Serves New York City By The Bottle

QUEENS — Not even a heat advisory stopped Sheena Gandhi from delivering wine bottles from a bowling alley in Times Square to a Tibetan restaurant in Elmhurst on a hot July afternoon. The thousands of New Yorkers sipping on happy hour drinks after work had a Queens woman to thank.

In sweltering 95-degree weather, Gandhi kept her cool and her high heels on as she packaged her products and explained the origins of the wine bottles to several New York City business owners, many of whom are men who doubt her knowledge in the field.

It's all part of the job when you're one of the biggest wine distributors in Queens, operating from the picturesque area of Jackson Heights.

"It's tough being a woman in this industry," Gandhi, the CEO of Grapevine Distributors & Importers, told Patch. "But it's nice to think I grew up eating at all these restaurants, and now I'm selling to them."

Gandhi, 35, is the owner of a Jackson Heights-based wine distributor rapidly gaining recognition among up-and-coming restaurants and wine shops offering natural and organic wines. She delivers to venues like White Raddish in Forest Hills, The Stand Comedy Club in the East Village, and The Rabbit Hole in Astoria.

With more than 18,000 followers on Instagram, the wine importer focuses on selling products from small labels around the world, from Georgia (the country) to Spain and Italy.

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Gandhi's father, Subhash Gandhi, first opened Grapevine Distributors & Importers in 2007. He immigrated penniless from Mumbai, India, to Queens in the 1970s.

He started working at a bodega in Jackson Heights and started growing his business from the ground up with the help of his wife, Daisy, who had immigrated from Bolivia after they met at Flamingo on Roosevelt Avenue.

"My dad always had an affinity to wine, it was his passion," Gandhi said. "He is the epitome of the American dream."

In 2020, Gandhi's father suffered from a heart attack, making him reconsider his wine business as a secure venture after he was instructed to lay off alcohol altogether and the pandemic wreaked havoc in the city.

Gandhi took it as a sign of her next move.

She had been bartending in several city locations before the pandemic. She lost her stints like most of the members of the service industry and she almost lost her father amid the heart attack, a moment she remembers as one of the toughest in her life.

"I thought it was important to continue my dad's legacy," the Queens native said. "I was always an employee, and I thought it was time to become an employer."

In the summer of 2021, she bought the company and officially became the CEO.

Gandhi took a business with a handful of accounts to over 150 restaurants and liquor stores in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and The Bronx in the last year. The 35-year-old is starting to venture into businesses in Long Island and other parts of the state.

But Gandhi still suffers constant doubt from business owners about her savviness and work ethic the minute they see her. She recalls an instance when she was sexually harassed by a Hell's Kitchen restaurant owner in April after trying to close a deal.

"It was hell on Earth for me," Gandhi said. "I have to deal with misogyny all the time. I have my own company and work really hard for it, and I still have to deal with this."

Still, her rising following in the wine world keeps her steady as she sips on good Pét-Nat of Pinot Noir. Gandhi is planning to expand to younger markets as studies show the only area of growth for American wine is among consumers over 60.

Through Instagram, appealing to young city restauranteurs, and moderate prices, Gandhi wants to keep building on the legacy her parents built while serving others with similar backgrounds.

"We get a lot of love and support, especially in Queens," she said. "We're a woman-owned business and I want to work with others like me."