Do you appreciate fine wine? Then you will be pleased to hear about the new innovative private members wine app VintageCellar. This user-friendly app allows for direct access to some of the rarest wines available from the most desirable wine regions in the world. We caught up with CEO Selim Bocti to tell us more.
Luxurious Magazine: Where and how did your passion for wine begin?
Selim Bocti: I always enjoyed good wine, but it wasn’t until I (literally!) got my hands dirty that I grew to love it. 20 or so years ago, I worked the harvest in Bordeaux as a vendangeur d’honneur – someone who just picks grapes for the joy of being part of the process – and it was amazing.
It cost me a sore back, and my hands were stained purple for weeks, but it gave me a deep and abiding respect for the whole process of winemaking. All the pickers would share lunch – simple food, but with great wines – and the camaraderie was wonderful. Now, every time I open a great bottle of wine, my mind goes back to those vineyards.
LM: What inspired you to launch Vintage Cellar?
Selim: Over the last couple of decades, my passion for fine wine has helped me forge wonderful relationships with some of the world’s best winemakers. Every vintage brings a new treasury of wines to enjoy, and I am always looking for new wines and experiences. With Vintage Cellar, I want to share that multi-dimensional pleasure of wine with our clients. I think I have earned the trust of the friends I have made, and they have been kind enough to give me access to some amazing wines.
For me, wine is not just a drink; it is a catalyst for so many other things. I can’t think of anything else that can bring people together in the same way: enjoying a great, convivial dinner, marking the most important moments in your life, or simply sharing a bottle with someone special: wine offers so much joy. Vintage Cellar’s mission is to uncork that joy for everyone.
LM: How user-friendly is the app, and what can people expect from it?
Selim: We try to be expert tour guides for our clients’ journeys in the world of wine, offering insight and experience as they build their cellars. One of our sommeliers is always on hand to advise, recommend and search for wines that will suit our clients: most importantly, we treat every wine lover and collector as an individual. It is a truly bespoke service, and our app – completely free to download, with no obligation to buy – is designed to be simple to navigate and rewarding to use, both for its content and its state-of-the-art technical features.
LM: How have people’s drinking habits changed over the last decade?
Selim: I think people may be drinking less, but they are drinking better. Our clients are trading up in the wines they are buying, and they are becoming more adventurous, too, seeking out new experiences and not just staying loyal to one château or style of wine.
And they are definitely drinking younger wines more frequently, which I think is because winemaking has become better, and wines are approachable much earlier in their evolution than was once the case. Young reds from the best estates in Bordeaux, for example, have softer tannins than they used to, so they don’t need to spend so much time mellowing in wood.
LM: What criteria do you look for when sourcing the wines to appear on the app?
Selim: Quality, quality, quality! By which I mean wines that are made by people as crazy about wine as I am; wines in which no corners have been cut or compromises made; wines that are built to last, offering collectors the chance to savour them at every stage of their development; wines that come directly from the cellars of the greatest estates – we do not buy on the secondary market – and, of course, wines that we at Vintage Cellar like. There is always a great story behind a great wine, and we love to tell it.
LM: What does your clientele profile look like, and how would you entice others to join?
Selim: Our clients come from all over the world, from different backgrounds and age groups, but they all share a love for fine wine, which is what makes the Vintage Cellar community so special. Some of them will fill their cellars with classic wines from great vintages – the “blue chip” approach if you like – some will be more adventurous, splashing out on wines from up-and-coming estates and regions, and many will spread their portfolio between those two approaches.
We offer wine investment plans, of course, and for a few of our clients, that is their primary motivation, but what makes Vintage Cellar unique is the chance for our clients to take a deep dive into the world of great wine with special events, vineyard stays, and much more.
LM: What three wines make the top of your list from the app?
Selim: I really couldn’t choose three wines from our list: all the wines on the app are there because they are the best of their kind that money can buy. But, if you press me, I must say that I did enjoy a bottle of Joseph Drouhin’s Chambolle-Musigny “Amoureuses” 2018 recently: It was spectacularly good, and it will only get even better.
Vintage Cellar – Where and How?
For information on Vintage Cellar, visit www.vintage-cellar.com.
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