Jeremy Biberdorf
By: Jeremy Biberdorf
Aug 20, 2022

Vinovest Review 2024

Jeremy Biberdorf
By: Jeremy Biberdorf
Aug 20, 2022

Disclosure

Disclosure: This page may contain affiliate links. This means we earn a small commission (at no additional cost to you) if you purchase a product through our links.
Disclosure: This page may contain affiliate links. This means we earn a small commission (at no additional cost to you) if you purchase a product through our links.
VinoVest Logo

4.5/5

4.5 rating based on 5 ratings

LEARN MORE

In a Nutshell: Vinovest is a revolutionary service that helps you build and manage a portfolio of rare and vintage wines – that you own 100%.

They use industry weight to buy the wine in your portfolio at a discount and store it for you while providing a secondary market to buy and sell your wine like you would stocks. You can even have your wine shipped home to enjoy!

Read our VinoVest review to learn if it’s the right investment for you.

FeesMinimum Investment
Fees are based on investment tier & range from 2.25% to 2.85%. The standard, basic tier is priced at a minimum of $1,000. Trading accounts are available for the minimum price of a single bottle.
Pros & Cons
Pros
  • Accessible wine investing for anyone – not just the rich
  • Vinovest stores your wine, which you own 100%, so there is no need to worry about building a wine cellar
  • You can easily buy, sell, or have your wine shipped to your home to enjoy
  • Wine has low market correlation, so investing can protect your net worth during economic turbulence
Cons
  • Although trading accounts are available for a small initial investment, they are recommended for experienced wine enthusiasts. Access to their managed portfolio, which they recommend, starts at $1,000 and is expensive

Compare to Other Investment Platforms

VinoVest Logo
4.5 rating based on 5 ratings
4.5/5
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FeesFees are based on investment tier & range from 2.25% to 2.85%.

Yieldstreet
4.2 rating based on 5 ratings
4.2/5
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Fees0-2% annual management fee

Masterworks Logo
4.5 rating based on 5 ratings
4.5/5
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Fees1.5% Per Year + 20% Of Profit

At a Glance

FeesFees vary from 2.25% to 2.85%, depending on tier.
Minimum Account Requirements
  • Standard Tier – $1,000 to $9,999
  • Plus Tier – $10,000 to $49,999
  • Premium Tier – $50,000 to $249,999
  • Grand Cru Tier – $250,000+

You can also buy single bottles with a trading-only account but lose access to many of the benefits of Vinovest. This is recommended for experienced wine enthusiasts only.

Investment OptionsWhen you open an account, Vinovest builds a custom wine portfolio based on your preferences.
Redemption OptionsVinovest will store the wine for you, and you can buy or sell at any time – you can even have your wine shipped home to enjoy.

What is Vinovest?

vinovest.co website

Vinovest is the first of its kind – no longer are fine wines the purview of exclusively ultra-wealthy enthusiasts with their own cellar. Vinovest is bringing fine wine investment direct to the consumer and providing unprecedented liquidity (pun intended) in buying and selling wines.

Since they store your wine for you, they also provide a secondary market to sell and buy additional options, just like the stock market.

How Vinovest Started

Vinovest is still relatively new to the market and was founded in 2019 by co-founders Brent Akamine and Anthony Zhang. Since it is so unique, it’s a ripe target for smart private equity money – in 2020, Vinovest raised funding through a seed round of several venture capital firms that propelled its business into today’s bustling marketplace.

Vinovest Investment Options

Vinovest does the hard work for you, so no guessing about what wine will win. When you open your account, Vinovest will ask a few questions about your investing experience, risk tolerance, and other preferences.

After learning your profile, Vinovest builds a custom portfolio that is AI-driven but overseen by a master sommelier for quality control. They use their industry weight to purchase your wine at a significant discount over retail. This usually takes about two weeks, and, at the end of your portfolio development, you own all of the wine – meaning you can buy, sell, or drink whenever you’d like. They even store it for you.

Vinovest Pricing

Vinovest has four pricing tiers that fund your portfolio and come with additional perks as you move up:

  1. Starter: $1,000 minimum balance.
  2. Portfolio development.
  3. Wine authentication.
  4. Storage options.
  5. Insurance on your portfolio.
  1. Plus: $10,000 minimum.
  2. All Starter benefits.
  3. Portfolio review service lets you see what others are building and drinking.
  4. Rare wine access and early access to new benefits.
  1. Premium: $50,000 minimum.
  2. All Plus tier benefits.
  3. Personal portfolio customization on top of AI assistance.
  4. Access to auction-only wines.
  5. Exclusive event and tasting invites.
  1. Grand Cru: $250,000 minimum.
  2. All Premium benefits.
  3. Access to the rarest wines.
  4. Personalized quarterly reports and insights.
  5. Access to the Vinovest Advisory Board.

Vinovest Features

Vinovest’s primary feature is, you guessed it, the ability for the average investor to access the world-class, lucrative fine wine market. Vinovest’s team of experts will take your preference inputs and build a diversified portfolio for you – no sommelier experience required.

Even though wine investing seems fun, it is also a great addition to your regular investment portfolio – wines are not significantly correlated with the market, so stock crashes won’t affect your Vinovest investment as much as it wrecks your stocks and bonds. In fact, during the COVID-19 crash, the S&P500 fell 20%, but wine only lost 1%. This low correlation protects your net worth.

Since Vinovest is an institutional investor working on your behalf, they get exclusive pricing for fine wines. This means that your cost basis, or the price you invest at, is lower, so your gains are more significant.

Vinovest isn’t just guessing at what wines will perform. Vinovest has developed AI-drive, proprietary algorithms that use decades of historical data to predictively model the best selection for your portfolio.

The best feature? No worrying about costly and potentially damaging storage in your home. Vinovest will hold onto it for you after personally authenticating it and keep it safe while it appreciates. And, if you want to celebrate your gains with a glass, they’ll also ship your wine to you!

Vinovest Performance

Over the past 30 years, fine wine has returned over 10% annually – matching or beating the S&P500’s annual gains and providing a hedge against inflation. This is impressive in any market but especially relevant now with market turbulence and runaway inflation.

In fact, over the past 15 years, the global stock market returned just under 200% – but wine beat the brakes off equities with a total return of 304.4%. This equates to an annual outperformance of just under 2%.

Vinovest Review Final Thoughts

Vinovest is an exciting, although expensive, way to break into the fine and vintage wine investment market. Since wine provides consistent returns and has a low market correlation, it is an excellent hedge against inflation and market downturns.

Click here to start your fine wine journey.

Frequently Asked Questions

Definitely. Even though getting started in wine investing might seem daunting, Vinovest makes it simple.

If you choose to enjoy your wine or store it at home, Vinovest will hold it for you. Since they only ship by the case, and quantity/distance varies, you’ll need to contact support to get a quote.

Jeremy Biberdorf

About the Author:

Jeremy Biberdorf is the founder of Modest Money. He’s a father of 2 beautiful girls, a dog owner, a long-time online entrepreneur and an investing enthusiast.