From Idaho and Washington, CODIPRAL Wine Imports and Distribution is building a regional presence around personal relationships, global sourcing, and distinctive wines from Europe and South America.
CODIPRAL Wine Imports and Distribution began with a simple observation: some of the most memorable wines Robert Leggett had encountered overseas were difficult to find in the United States.
Leggett, CODIPRAL’s managing director, founded the licensed wine import company in 2017 in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, after a 37-year career in petroleum engineering that took him around the world. After graduating from the University of Missouri in 1980, he joined Amoco Production Company and later continued with British Petroleum after the companies merged in 1998.
Over the course of his career, Leggett lived and worked in Egypt, the United Kingdom, Kuwait, Russia, Argentina, Iraq, and Brunei, gaining a global perspective that would later shape CODIPRAL’s sourcing philosophy.
Those years abroad also gave him something essential to the wine business: relationships. Through connections formed across international industries and markets, Leggett gained access to wineries in Europe and South America, including producers with deep regional heritage and limited exposure in the US.
The Malbec That Sparked the Idea
The inspiration for CODIPRAL took root while Leggett was living in Buenos Aires. There, he discovered high-altitude Malbecs from western Argentina, wines that stood apart from many of the options he encountered during visits back to the United States.
He began to suspect that some of Argentina’s strongest examples were being enjoyed locally rather than exported widely. That realization became the foundation for CODIPRAL’s mission: to introduce boutique, award-winning foreign wines to commercial buyers in the Northwest, particularly in markets where those bottles had not yet been sold.
CODIPRAL’s focus extends beyond Malbec. The company works with wines from France, Italy, Spain, and Argentina, emphasizing generational winemaking experience, distinctive varietals, and producers whose work may be unfamiliar to American buyers.
Building Momentum in Idaho and Washington
Launching an import company in a region already known for quality wine required patience. Leggett faced a two-year COVID-related stall, limited distributor interest, stretched resources, partnership challenges, and the personal loss of his wife in late 2024.
Still, he continued. His answer to those obstacles has been direct: “Never quit.”
Leggett credits Jesus Christ as his greatest source of strength through difficult times of personal loss and when progress was slow and uncertain.
After attempts to sell imported wines through distributors in several states, CODIPRAL received approval to distribute in Idaho in late 2022. By 2023, the company began gaining sales traction. Later that year, it received approval to distribute in Washington, where sales are now growing year over year as CODIPRAL connects with more retailers.
A Regional Vision for Luxury Imports
For wine retailers and investors, CODIPRAL’s appeal lies in its focused model. The company is young, relationship-driven, and built around commercial service to local buyers, rather than broad, generic distribution.
Leggett sees a long-term opportunity to become a premier importer of luxury wines in the Pacific Northwest. CODIPRAL now has a presence in local distribution, international wine logistics, and direct export of European wine to the Middle East.
Looking ahead, the company aims to establish offices in northern Italy and western Argentina to identify boutique, award-winning wineries not yet widely known in the US.
For Leggett, the value of CODIPRAL comes back to heritage. As he once explained when asked why he would import foreign wines into a region known for producing great wine, Europe and Argentina carry generations of winemaking knowledge, along with grape varietals many US consumers have yet to experience.
That perspective continues to guide CODIPRAL as it grows across Idaho and Washington, one buyer relationship, one producer relationship, and one distinctive bottle at a time.
Written in partnership with Tom White
