Winemakers Use NFTs to Craft a Wine Industry for the Future

Gillian Allen

Gillian is the use of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) for their wine brand, they have probably heard about the authenticity bene ts associated with this technology: when a winery sells a wine with an NFT attached to it, all data associated with the purchase and history of this wine are recorded on the blockchain and cannot be altered. e bene ts of tracing and authenticity are attractive to producers whose wines are o en sold in auctions for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Bidders want to know that the wine behind the label is true, and NFTs can con rm this authenticity to thwart counterfeiting e orts. However, producers have begun to uncover a multitude of other attractive perks of NFTs.

Dan Petroski, a Napa Valley-based winemaker and owner of Massican Wines, as well as one of the most outspoken proponents of the technology, knows his wine (white Mediterranean varietals priced at around $30 per bottle) isn’t the target of counterfeiting schemes. What he is concerned with, however, is building a community to grow his brand. This is where he uses NFTs, and even the metaverse, to his advantage.

Petroski has always been connected to his Massican community and frequently ventures into the field to meet with clients and industry professionals. For 70 days (about two and a half months) during the COVID-19 pandemic, he produced an Instagram story series called “Quarantini” where, at 6 p.m., he posted the cocktail or beverage he was enjoying for his Massican community.

“Quarantini” provided a fun and lighthearted means of connecting with his audience during strange and confusing times. This was just one of the ways that Petroski cultivated community during the pandemic, and from his efforts he saw massive success: Massican Sauvignon Blanc became a highly coveted cult classic and sold out within weeks, thanks to a viral TikTok trend. He sold more vermouth than ever before, gained more social media followers and, in turn, more customers. In his marketing emails during the pandemic, he stressed his desire to connect with his consumers, so much so that he even gave out his personal phone number.

For Petroski, utilizing NFTs and the metaverse to further expand this growing community seemed like a natural transition. Petroski dabbled with NFTs in 2021 and even released his own Massican app as part of the project. Now he’s working on launching a new NFT in collaboration with a digital artist who will design an Art Deco travel poster to sell as a digital collectible. If consumers buy this poster, they will receive free shipping for life. NFTs are not just about the flashy products that wineries can sell to attract new consumers. The blockchain, which can store all data associated with the wine, can also be used to archive information about the vineyards themselves.

Petroski is in the process of planting a new vineyard and plans to record the vineyard’s entire life history, from inception to bottling.

He said this record will include daily weather reports, documenting extreme heat, rainfall conditions and growing degree days, as well as all human and mechanical engagement, such as harvesting and hedging. He’ll follow the vineyard over the course of three to four years when it produces its first fruit and record everything that happens to that fruit.

When wine from this vineyard is bottled and corked, that will be the last metadata that go into this wine’s NFT. When someone buys the NFT attached to this bottle, they will have access to all the data associated with that wine’s production, For Petroski, he will be able to have quick and easy access to his past winemaking history: a win-win for the consumer and producer alike.

“I can do this with any vineyard right now, but I want to do this from the origin story,” Petroski said. “Start over again and record the origin story of this vineyard and take it to consumers hands when they do have an opportunity to open up that bottle of wine.”

Especially after the pandemic, consumers want to hear directly from the person making the products they consume or purchase, whether that be wine, food or even clothing. Using blockchain technology to record a bottle of wine’s history could be key for sales and marketing teams that are trying to appeal to younger consumers and attract new customers. It’s also a tool that winemaker and viticulture teams can use to analyze past vintage data and make important decisions as growing conditions continue to change.

Harnessing NFTs to Build Relationships

Not every winemaker is as digitally native as Petroski or has the time or interest to research the nebulous world of NFTs, the blockchain and the metaverse— plus NFTs are a dicey business in an already risky wine industry.

David Garrett, founder of global NFT wine club Club dVIN, is focused on using NFTs to help wineries foster and nurture relationships with their consumers. While other NFT wine clubs on the market provide great platforms for authenticating, trading and investing in wine (users purchase an NFT attached to a bottle of wine, and the NFT gets traded around while the club holds onto the wine), Club dVIN is mainly focused on consumption: creating a long-lasting relationship between the producer and the consumer and making the global wine industry feel a little smaller.