VinovestVerified
Verified
Snapshot
Open to All Investors
Wine
+35.20%
24+ Employees
With experience across data science, operations, and software engineering
10%-25%
Target Return
Wine & Spirits have outpaced the S&P 500 over the last 20 years
Moderate
Liquidity
Hold whiskey 2-5 years before it's sold to brands.
24+ Employees
With experience across data science, operations, and software engineering
How You Earn
Growth
Invest From
$300
Invest in
Fine Wine & Whiskey
24+ Employees
With experience across data science, operations, and software engineering
Open to All Investors
Top Perks
Whiskey returned 13.8% and wine 8.9% annually over the past 7 years, outperforming S&P 500, Gold and many other alternative assets.
Wine is a historically stable and non-correlated asset class.
Build a personalized wine or whiskey portfolio based on your risk tolerance and time horizon.
Can I trust Vinovest?
Vinovest is backed by leading VC firms like 10X Capital, Rainfall Ventures and UpHonest Capital.
150K
# of Customers
$16M
Amount Raised
$27.5M
Capital returned to clients
# of Customers
150K
Amount Raised
$16M
Capital returned to clients
$27.5M
150K
# of Customers
$16M
Amount Raised
$27.5M
Capital returned to clients
Overview
The global wine market is valued at around $340 billion. According to the Liv-ex, Fine Wine has outperformed traditional markets like stocks during the Dotcom Bubble, the Great Recession of 2008, and the COVID-19 recession. At the same time, experts are bullish on whiskey too. They expect the global market to grow from $59.8 billion to $81.21 billion in value by 2025.
Vinovest is a California-based company that lets you build a personalized portfolio of investment-grade wines and whiskeys. Vinovest uses a combination of master sommeliers and machine learning algorithms to identify and purchase wine and whiskeys at competitive prices. You can have your pick of more than 100 different kinds of investment-grade wines on the Vinovest Marketplace.
Unlike other competitors, when you buy a case of wine or a cask of whiskey on Vinovest—it’s yours. The company will custody, store, and insure your wine or whiskey. But it’s up to you if you’d like to sell it, buy more, or have it all shipped to your house.
Vinovest was founded in 2019 to democratize fine wine investing. The company now has more than 20 employees and $100M in assets under management.
NOTE: Minimum investment starts at $1,000 for wine and $300 for whiskey.
High Growth
63.6% over the last ten years (for wine)
Low Correlation
0.73 correlation to the S&P 500
Equity
Ownership of investment-grade wines and whiskeys
Pros & Cons
The Good
Vinovest enables you to invest in rare wine that is hard to access, and in whiskey before it matures, bottled and sold to brands.
Customers are able to sell their wines or ship it to their homes whenever they like. With whiskey, they can opt into bottling it after it matures.
Vinovest manages the sourcing, custody, storage, and insurance for you.
Vinovest notifies you when it’s time to sell your wine and whiskey.
The Not-So-Good
Fees are higher than other wine investment platforms, ranging from 1.9% to 2.5%.
You can't sell whiskey at any time - hold times are typically 2-5 years, depending on casks you have in your portfolio
While you can sell wine at any time, you'll have to wait for you wine to reach maturity to realize returns. Young wines often have limited liquidity and demand on the secondary market. Vinovest charges 1.5% listing fee if you list your wine before the ideal selling window.
If you decide to sell your wine before it reaches its ideal selling window, the process can take as little as a few days, or as long as a couple of weeks or months. How fast a wine sells depends on several factors, including asking price, age, vintage.
Vinovest Track Record
1.7M+
Bottles Managed
From users across 44 countries
Up to 20%
Targeted Returns
Wines and whiskeys picked for maximized returns
$100M
AUM
From 1,847 premium wines, American Whiskey and Ultra-rare Scotch
Returns Calculator
Calculate how much you can earn by investing in Fine Wine and Whiskey. Results vary based on the investment amount, term, and other conditions.
Invested
$7,000
Projected Fees
$288.81
Projected return
$2,336.84
Value after fees
$9,336.84
How it Works
Here’s how Vinovest helps you build a personalized portfolio of investment-grade wines.
Here’s how Vinovest helps you build a personalized portfolio of investment-grade wines.
1
You tell Vinovest your goals
Fund your account and complete a 1-minute questionnaire that Vinovest uses to build a wine portfolio based on your investing preferences and time horizon.
2
Vinovest sources your wine and whiskey
Vinovest uses master sommeliers whiskey experts and machine learning algorithms to source world-class wines from around the world. This process can take between 2 to 3 weeks.
3
Vinovest custodies your wine
Vinovest purchases wine and whiskey on your behalf at competitive prices, and also takes care of insurance and storage.
4
You hold your wine and whiskey & sell when it matures
Vinovest notifies you when it’s the best time to sell. But since you fully own all the wines in your portfolio, you can sell bottles on the Vinovest Marketplace at any time. You can't sell your whiskey early, but, depending on casks in your portfolio, you will know your hold time before your casks is due to be bottled and sold, typically 2-5 years.
Press Coverage
How You
Make Money
Two main factors drive returns in the fine wine market: maturity and scarcity.
Most investment-grade wine takes 10 to 15 years to mature. And as people drink their wine, the remaining bottles of a given vintage become rarer and more expensive.
Vinovest will notify users when it identifies the best time to sell the wines in their portfolio to maximize returns.
Alternatively, users can sell their wines on the Vinovest Marketplace at any time. There are no extra commissions when you sell your wine. Vinovest charges 1.5% listing fee if you list your wine before the ideal selling window. Add: However, you can't sell your whiskey early.
Primary sale
Vinovest notifies you when it’s time to sell
Secondary sale
You sell your wine on secondary market
How Vinovest
Makes Money
To authenticate, store and insure your wine portfolio, Vinovest charges an annual management fee between 1.9% to 2.5%. The exact fee is determined by the amount you invest on Vinovest. The higher your account balance, the lower the management fee.
1.9% to 2.5%
Fee Per Year
Users who invest a higher amount pay lower management fees.
0%
Commission
Vinovest does not take a commission on the sale of your wines and whiskeys.
How You’re Taxed
Fine Wine is considered a wasting asset in countries like the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Singapore, Germany, France, and Austria, and does not incur any capital gains tax.
In the United States, however, gains from buying and selling wine are subject to collectibles taxes. Collectibles held for over one year are subject to long-term capital gains taxes, which are capped at 28%. Collectibles held for less than one year are taxed as ordinary income (up to 37%).
0-28%
Capital Gains
Vinovest investors benefit from paying long-term cap gains taxes
Meet the Team
Vinovest has 24 employees, including a Thiel Fellow and alums from ByteDance (owner of TikTok), and other venture-backed companies. Anthony Zhang is the co-founder and CEO of Vinovest. Prior to starting Vinovest with Brent Akamine, Zhang founded and sold two companies, EnvoyNow and KnowYourVC.
Recent Activity
Who’s Investing In Wine?
Vinovest
Requirements
US and non-US residents
Non-accredited and accredited investors
Over 21 years of age
US and non-US residents
Non-accredited and accredited investors
Over 21 years of age
Reviews
5
4
4
0
3
1
2
0
1
0
If you are interested in this type of investment, I highly recommend using this platform.
Dan G
I've recently discovered Vinovest and very intrigued. I'm a big fan of diversifying as I felt the brunt of 2008...Physical assets certainly make things more digestible. Returns look very reasonable and there is also novelty in actually being able to request a bottle of wine in your portfolio be sent to you to drink! Hook. Line. And sinker.
Nice platform
FAQs
Vinovest is a platform that allows you to invest in investment-grade wines and whiskeys from around the world. Unlike other platforms, you own 100% of your portfolio—which means you can hold your wine for the recommended 5 to 10 year time horizon, liquidate your entire portfolio, sell on the secondary marketplace, or wait until Vinovest says it's time to sell. If you are looking for shorter hold times, you can invest in whiskey, where a typical hold time is 2-5 years. You still fully own it, so you can opt into bottling it (for additional cost) instead of selling it once it matures.
Yes, Vinovest has over 100 varieties of wines, American whiskey and rare Scotch to choose from around the world, making it one of the more comprehensive offerings in the alternatives space which are open to both accredited and non-accredited investors. The company was started by seasoned tech experts with experience in fintech and alternatives. Since being founded in 2019, Vinovest has returned over $27.5M capital to its customers who realized their returns via a wine or whiskey exit or decided to liquidate their portfolios for other reasons.
Vinovest allows you to build a portfolio without guesswork or anxiety. Just tell the platform a little about your preferences and desired hold time, deposit at least $1,000, and sit back as the company uses its human and machine insights to build you a diverse portfolio automatically.
Yes, Vinovest has sold cases since it was founded in 2019. Their track record. However, because each portfolio is built differently, the time for you to sell your wine might vary. Vinovest will reach out to investors to notify them when it’s an ideal time to sell, assuming that you do not decide to liquidate your portfolio or sell on the secondary market (for wine) before their recommendation.
The Liv-ex Fine Wine 1000, one of the wine market’s broadest measures of the market, has appreciated more than 63.6% over the last five years.