By Godson Umejiego, Senior Correspondent, USA
The first SEC-qualified and fully transparent platform for wine and spirits collection investing, Vint has launched the first-of-its-kind opportunity to invest in wine futures.
Vint’s first “Vint En Primeur” offering will be 50 cases of the 2021 Joy Fantastic Syrah from Santa Barbara. These wines are currently maturing in barrel and will be bottled and released in 2023. Produced by Amy Christine, MW and veteran winemaker Peter Hunken, the Joy Fantastic Syrah has received praise from critics, including 95 points and a “Cellar Selection” designation from Wine Enthusiast for the 2018 vintage.
“Over the last three years, we have talked to countless producers and one consistent challenge they have expressed is cash flow management,” said CEO and Co-Founder of Vint, Nick King. “The top producers in Bordeaux have access to wine futures, but most producers in the rest of the world struggle to access capital, manage cash flows and market through new channels. We are excited to introduce a new wine futures product that allows producers to leverage their cellars to grow their business with non-dilutive capital while giving investors an opportunity to diversify into this asset class.”
Wine futures allow prospective buyers to purchase wines that have not yet been released, allowing producers to realize revenue they would not see otherwise for at least 18 – 24 months. The concept was made famous by the châteaux of Bordeaux in the decades following WWII as they struggled with cash flow issues following the war.
Initially the product of necessity, the “En Primeur” system as it is known has become a permanent fixture in Bordeaux, and the sales through La Place de Bordeaux, where the futures are listed and sold, make up a significant portion of sales each year. Outside of Bordeaux, wine futures have been slower to take hold due to a lack of infrastructure to sell them. Some producers have tried to sell wine futures directly, and others have listed them on La Place de Bordeaux. However, it is challenging for those other than top global producers to list on La Place de Bordeaux and most producers have extreme difficulty implementing a futures system of their own.
Vint’s ability to securitize wine futures offers producers of all sizes the ability to list recent vintages of their wine on the platform for Vint users to invest in via SEC-qualified shares. With a growing community of over 6,000 members and counting, Vint provides producer partners both a platform to sell futures and access to a network of individuals interested in long-term wine investment. Vint investors benefit from the opportunity to invest in offerings that are not available anywhere else and have a shorter projected investment horizon than typical Vint collections.
Owner of The Joy Fantastic Vineyard, Amy Christine, MW added: “We are thrilled to partner with Vint to deliver a truly accessible futures offering, which will empower us to capture new segments of the market and to build a long-term growth strategy for our business. We look forward to providing Vint investors access to our acclaimed wines and believe this collaboration provides a blueprint that will ultimately benefit producers everywhere.”
In 2013 Ms. Christine achieved the title of Master of Wine (MW). She is one of 13 US women to have MW status. As of March 2021, there are 416 MWs in the world, living in 31 countries, with 45 total in the US.
