The Algarve-based winery has created The Winemaker Experience, a unique project that sees enophiles become wine-makers, each with their own vineyard plot.
ALGARVE, Portugal, 7th March 2021, ZEXPRWIRE, – The project needed to fulfil three criteria, it needed to be 100% authentic, care-free and affordable. Simple criteria but difficult to achieve as they were contradicting each other. To be not a marketing gig, but fully authentic, each participant had to have as much decision-making power as a winery owner would have, but without the need to invest years of work and millions into the project. The volume has been another crucial point of the project, as participants should not need to worry about having to sell their wine, just producing enough for self consumption and the always-needed birthday and Christmas presents for friends. The costs of this project are far more affordable, with the parcels of vineyard being priced from 30.000€ to 60.000€, and the running costs ranging from 8€ to 11€ per bottle. The vineyard parcels are adjusted in size so that the average annual grape yield corresponds to a barrel of wine, 225 litres or 288 bottles, which are easily shared.
Each year the resulting grapes are transformed into a bespoke production of 225 litres by the respective participant. Not only is each production separate and unique, what sets this project apart is that the participant is encouraged to take each and every relevant production-related decision. The Quinta dos Vales winemaking team educates and guides participants through the production process, providing use of the micro-vinification equipment and specialised personnel, but each participant is encouraged to take the important decisions themselves. The consultants just advise based on the preferences of the clients, the private wine-makers decide then which variety to choose, when to harvest, whether to age the wine in oak, which type of barrel to choose, the type of bottle, the design, even the name of the brand and so forth. The project is intended as a luxury pastime, ideal for any wine-lover who has ever considered starting their own production.
The project was launched in 2017, but its marketing only started in late 2020. Because as Karl Stock, founder and owner of the wine estate, explains: “We were adamant that before going live with the promotion of The Winemaker Experience it had to be perfectly fine-tuned. Not only did our team need to learn the ins and outs of micro-production, we also needed to understand how to guide and educate Private Wine-Makers in a way that kept them fully informed, but without overloading them with information.” After three successful harvests accompanying a multi-national group of Private Wine-Makers, ranging from Germany to Miami, the team feel confident that the project is well and truly fine-tuned.
As soon as the marketing activities started the market-reaction was immediate, the number of private wine-makers has already almost doubled, in time to inaugurate the new barrel cellar for The Winemaker Experience. This addition is just the next step of the full-service package offered by Quinta dos Vales. Several of the participants of The Winemaker Experience also own holiday-homes overlooking the vineyards of Quinta dos Vales, so that when they are on-site and making their wine they stay in their very own homes.
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Source: Quinta dos Vales
