Shelbi Herring founded Copa Fina Wine Imports in 2009, bringing together her experience as a strategy consultant and a passion for wine.  As a business consultant, Shelbi specialized in growth strategy, logistics, and finance, primarily in the retail category, working with companies such as Nordstrom, Gap, the Walt Disney Company, and Cardinal Health.

While Shelbi began learning about wine as a hobby, she later furthered her education by obtaining the Level 1 certification from The Court of Master Sommeliers, and studying at The Rudd Center for Professional Wine Studies at the Culinary Institute of America.  She also obtained her designation as a Certified Specialist of Wine in 2015.

She began to seriously consider a break into the wine industry after traveling through Argentina in 2008.  She fell in love with the country, the culture, and of course, the wines.  She quickly identified that Argentine wines available in California was primarily limited to large, mass-produced brands.

The concept behind Copa Fina is simple: identify small, family-oriented producers whose wines deliver exceptional value for the price.  Leveraging her background in big-business strategy, Shelbi seeks out boutique, yet value driven projects for long-term partnership.

In the summer of 2012, Shelbi ventured into Chile, where she identified a lineup of incredible boutique projects that fit perfectly into the Copa Fina portfolio.  In 2015, she continued the portfolio expansion into New Zealand, and that growth has continued into Spain, Italy, France, and Uruguay.

In addition to distribution available throughout California, Copa Fina expanded to Arizona in 2022 and in Nevada in 2023. Copa Fina’s wines are additionally available in 20+ states throughout the U.S. through the partnership of like-minded distributors.