Is Wine Making A Business or a Mental Illness?

How do you become a millionaire in the wine business? You start as a billionaire.

https://vimeo.com/643280818

Its a very hard business to make money in. 97% of wine sold in America is sold at under $15.99/bottle. If you want to be successful you need scale, access to great fruit, executional skills to make the wine and logistics in place to ship millions of cases.

How do I know this? I learned it the hard way.

Years ago I tried to do a deal a deal on Shark Tank that involved selling wine as a single serve beverage. The whole idea was 9oz wine in gas sealed plastic glasses. During due diligence I wanted to get the opinion of Annette Alvarez Peters the head buyer of wines at #Costco. At the time she was the most powerful woman in the wine world. No one in the world bought more wine than Costco and I wanted them as a distribution partner in the deal.

One great thing about Shark Tank, and I'm not ashamed to say, is that everyone returns my calls! Why? because their kids watch the show.

But how to reach Annette?

Using nefarious on-line tactics I was able to get her cell number and called her. No answer, so I left a voice mail explaining why I wanted to meet, the whole single wine serve story and the opportunity I thought we could work on together.

20 minutes later my phone rang. It was Annette, she said;

"Hey Mr. Wonderful you were rude to Barbara Corcoran last night on Shark Tank and I don't like that, what do you want?"

I responded.

"I was not rude to Barbara, In fact the only reason she got to the Shark Tank set this year is that I bough he a new her a new broom!"

Anyway, after we got past the niceties we got down to business. Annette was about to go on holiday to Hawaii and she said if I could make it to John Wayne airport on Saturday she would meet. She asked me to bring my wife because she knew from Shark Tank that Linda blended may of our families white wine offerings.

We flew to California the next day to meet with Annette.

At the meeting I showed her the single serve prototype. She turned it upside down and it leaked into her purse. That was the end of that idea!

Then she said to me. "Kevin you have built a brand as the wine guy. People trust your palate. If you really want to be successful in the wine business you need scale and logistics. You have to be able to ship a million cases in a year and on a moments notice. You can't do it alone. I'll make an introduction for you to Pat Roney and Terry Wheatley at Vintage Wine Estates Work it out with them and call me back.

Thats exactly what I did. I formed a partnership with Vintage to launch O'Leary Fine Wines and we never looked back. Along the way I became a shareholder in $VWE and today we have over 3,000 acres producing wine. It's a big business and I'm really proud of what we have achieved so far but its about to get bigger.

I have been a wine investor for decades. My stepfather George introduced me to hundreds of grape varietals starting when I was a teenager living in Switzerland. Today I am a member of the Chevaliers du Tastevin, I manage 5 commercial wine cellars in North America and Europe, I trade wine futures and I taste hundreds of different wines every year. I'm getting really good at picking winners that I buy for my cellars.

My friends are constantly asking me for wine recommendations and I understand why. It's really hard to keep up with the different blends, ratings, and good and bad wine years. But thats what I do every day. I'm on top of it all and I buy wine as an investor.

I'm proud of this work and the years I have dedicated to studying it. It's a labour of love because you never stop learning and tasting! If you are interested in finding out what I discover and then buy, check out my new direct to consumer site #ShopMrWonderful.com You will find wine offerings at every price point that I have hand selected. If you trust my pallet try these wines, they are spectacular. I drink these with my family and friends and I think you will love them too. Its always good to expand your wine horizons. We ship direct to 42 states direct to your home so you don't have to carry a 39 pound case of wine around.

Every time I find something new worth trying I'll let you know so sign up and enjoy!

When it comes to wine, I have your back!

Check out this video from CNN #NewDay about the launch.

https://vimeo.com/643280818