‘I think it’s fair to say that winemakers are in the industry because they want to make a product that people enjoy, not only collect,’ states Jacob Ner David, CEO and co-founder of fine wine futures platform, Vinsent. ‘The traditional system means that a winery is many steps removed from the person who drinks their wine, but producers want to know the people who enjoy their wine and why.’
Establishing a sense of immediacy between winemaker and wine lover is one of Vinsent’s core pillars, as are more established advantageous tenets of the wine futures market such as ring-fencing your own cache of in-demand wines at an attractive, pre-release price; indeed, with Vinsent it’s possible to acquire your wine and potentially save over 50% on the estimated release price, moreover in the future then have the ability to trade your acquisitions directly with other Vinsent customers.
In addition to offering wine still in barrel to its customers, Vinsent also sells cases available immediately, with both methods affording the opportunity to savour the wine’s development from adolescence through to its peak. Yet there remains a gap in the journal of your wine’s life cycle; those very first years when the wine is crafted in the vineyards then tended to in the cellar.
With Vinsent and its portfolio of worldwide producers, this void is filled via regular dispatches from the people behind your wine who provide you with harvest reports, accounts of barrel tasting sessions or bottling runs; all of them fascinating, rare insights into how the jigsaw is assembled.
It doesn’t end there, though, as Ner David explains: ‘Years after the wine has been shipped the winemaker might also want to tell customers how the wine has developed, or that they should drink up,’ he says. ‘Conversely, people can send feedback with a case they’ve enjoyed over many years. Once that personal connection is established, anything is possible.’
In establishing that connection, transparency and security are fundamentals to Vinsent. Utilising blockchain framework as well as cutting-edge technology which guarantees provenance, all transactions are streamlined and secured between the producer, Vinsent and you; no one else.
‘We are creating a trusted marketplace that allows wineries to directly connect with consumers and tell them about their wine,’ says Ner David. ‘As a winery owner myself, I saw a complete disconnect between the winery and the customer with no expressions coming back to the winery, he says. ‘Wine is supposed to be all about connection; it’s supposed to be full of passion, romance and soul, and our mission is to reconnect wineries and wine lovers.’
