November 9, 2023 • 39 mins
Head Portfolio Advisor-Vinovest, Ms. Lauren Bletcher
Before joining the Vinovest team, Lauren has worked for the past 8 years to become a Sommelier by passing courses through both the Court of Master Sommeliers and the Wine Spirits and Education Trust. This passion led her to Vinovest, a wine investing firm, where she now works helping clients diversify their investment portfolios into alternative assets such as fine wine and whiskey!
Lauren's area of expertise lies in "investment grade" wine, which consists of the top 5% of wine produced globally. She also specializes in rare Scotch and American Whiskey. She is able to utilize both assets in curating a well-rounded alternative investment portfolio.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenbletcher/
lauren.bletcher@vinovest.co
https://www.linkedin.com/company/vinovest/mycompany/
https://www.instagram.com/vinovest/?hl=en
https://www.instagram.com/whiskeyvest/?hl=en
https://twitter.com/anthony_j_zhang/status/1594751247407452160
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Before joining the Vinovest team, Lauren has worked for the past 8 years to become a Sommelier by passing courses through both the Court of Master Sommeliers and the Wine Spirits and Education Trust. This passion led her to Vinovest, a wine investing firm, where she now works helping clients diversify their investment portfolios into alternative assets such as fine wine and whiskey!
Lauren's area of expertise lies in "investment grade" wine, which consists of the top 5% of wine produced globally. She also specializes in rare Scotch and American Whiskey. She is able to utilize both assets in curating a well-rounded alternative investment portfolio.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenbletcher/
lauren.bletcher@vinovest.co
https://www.linkedin.com/company/vinovest/mycompany/
https://www.instagram.com/vinovest/?hl=en
https://www.instagram.com/whiskeyvest/?hl=en
https://twitter.com/anthony_j_zhang/status/1594751247407452160
Listen 🎧📻💻 wherever you get your podcast!
Your Resource for Success Podcast "TOP 10% Globally" - Thank You Listen Notes
“Subscribe Now" its FREE and leave a review.
Monetary Donations accepted 💰 support the podcast 👉cash app $kmclemore, paypal.me/wsbillc or GoodPods "Tip Jar."
WSBI Your Resource For Success - Let your voice be heard!
Follow me on my YouTube Channel
Subscribe, Watch, like & Share - https://youtube.com/@wsbillc
www.wsbillc.com
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/your-resource-for-success-podcast--2094412/support.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:12):
Good evening, Welcome to WSBI,your Resource for Success podcast program where you
get to meet inspiring women owned businessesfrom across the country. And now for
your host, Kimberly mcklemore. Allright, good evening and welcome to WSBI,
(00:38):
your Resource for Success podcast program whereyou get to meet inspiring entrepreneurs and
women own businesses from across the country. I am your host, Kimberly McLamore,
CEO and founder of the Women's SmallBusiness Initiative LLC and award winning author.
And tonight I'm excited because I havemy great special co host on,
Miss Natalie Montes, who is theowner of the Venue by Montes. Hello,
(00:59):
miss nat hey girl, Hey,thanks for having me, of course
as always, of course, ofcourse, and of course I want to
welcome you all to another night ofsharing with us. We have special guest
head Portfolio Advisor Vinovest, Miss LaureneBletcher. Before joining the Vnovest team,
Lauren has worked for the past eightyears to become a somalier by passing courses
(01:25):
through both the Court of Masters Somaliersand the Wine Spirits and Education Trust.
This passion led her to Vinovest,a wine investing firm where she now works
helping clients that diversify their investment portfoliosinto alternative assets such as fine wine and
whiskey. Lauren's area of expertise liesin investment grade wine, which consists of
the top five percent of wine producedglobally. She also specializes in rare scotch
(01:48):
and American whiskey. She is ableto utilize both assets and curating a well
rounded alternative investment portfolio. So,without further ado, please help me.
Welcome to my platform, Miss LaureneBlecher. Hey, how are you.
Yeah, I'm I'm good. I'mso excited to chat with you guys.
Well we are. We're so happythat we're finally having this conversation. So
(02:10):
you're here, and thank you foryour time tonight. This is going to
be a great conversation. Absolutely,I'm sorry, go ahead, No,
it interesting. I'm so excited,especially after you know we've gotten to work
on your guys's portfolio and kind ofbuild that relationship. I'm excited to help
in any way I can. Allright, Well, you know, like
you said, we are a partof this, but before we dive into
(02:34):
that, I always like to askthe guests just to tell us a little
bit more about who Lauren really is. Yeah, well I am hoppey.
We were getting no. No,I'm thirty seven seeing a girl living in
the city and got really into winekind of early on in my career.
(03:00):
But it's always kind of been likea back end, you know, kind
of passion project. And then thepandemic hit and kind of shook everybody's worlds
and that was my time to kindof figure out all right, kind of
figure this out or let it go. So that was when I decided to
frear out of it. And itwas also kind of drawing when Crypto was
(03:21):
really weird and like big, andI didn't understand it for the life of
me, but knew I needed tobe an investing in something whin that that
made sense to me. It's aphysical thing, and so that's kind of
where that whole thing came from.So yeah, it's been been quite a
journey. But yeah, I'm justa regular girl trying to figure out what
(03:44):
to do with all with any kindof fun in this uh, in this
crazy economy, right right, Iagree with that, But I love I
love what you just said that ittook you twenty twenty to sit down and
really truly decide what was best foryou. And you know, we all
know that Crypto his his. Youknow, everybody thinks it's the greatest thing
since slice Pie. But at theend of the day, it is probably
(04:04):
the most awkward thing because you're eithergonna win or you're gonna lose. There's
no in between on Crypto. Yes, so, you know, I like
the fact that you, you know, decided to invest in something that has
a lot more stability, and you'regoing to talk about that stability as we
go on. But I'm sure whoeverelse has any questions, go ahead,
(04:25):
and Nan and I think you gotsomething bursting out. Yes, I really,
yeah, I really just want tohone in what you said about it
made sense to you? Tell mewhat how did it make sense to you?
Because I know for a lot ofus, well especially women, okay,
investments has not been something that's onon our priority list that we felt
accessible to that It's been a man'sworld really to be honest, And so
(04:49):
what made this actually make sense toyou as a woman, as you know,
in the pursuits that you were pursuing. How did it make sense?
I want to know? Yeah,I think kind of the biggest thing that
Drew made of Geno invest in thefirst place was that we were trying to
democratize find wine investing. So samething in like the traditional assets wine investing
(05:12):
has really kind of been like yourold boys club. You know, you
needed to have a broker and aninsurance type of storage and all of those
things that really cut out the majorityof the population. Not to mention,
you know, these types of winesthat we're investing in. This is not
the stuff that we're going to bedrinking on a Tuesday, Like. This
is really expensive and so those ofus that didn't have access to that type
(05:35):
of wine, why would we everknow that this is an investment vehicle.
So the fact that we were kindof offering all of that education and you
know, that opportunity to invest inwine and utilize this as an asset class,
I think was a big thing forme, not only as like a
young investor, but as a woman. The other pools that have figured out
(05:55):
when it comes to wine is thatwe as women are we're better investors because
more often than not, we're waymore patient, we're way less out when
they get volatile, we do alot less you know, rampant buying and
selling, or the more patient.You know, this is a generalization,
but most you know, statistically thishas been the case. So when it
(06:16):
came to wine, it kind ofmade sense because essentially, the longer I
can hold some specific cases, notonly is the actual structure of the wine
changing, so we're getting different tastingnotes and it's becoming more desirable to drink,
but we also have a scarcity factor. You know, there's a finite
amount of all of wines made,especially these, you know, like collector
(06:40):
edition wines. There's only so manyand other people around the world are going
to be drinking those. So itbecomes a simple supplying demands. The longer
I can hold it, the morepatient I can be, the more valuable
that wine's going to be in end. Right, that's awesome. Listen up,
ladies. We were made for this. We were made for this exactly
(07:00):
exactly. But you know, theother thing I wanted to ask real quickly,
kind of on the base same basiswhere you're talking about, is I
want to know, if you evenhave the answer to this, then why
has it taken so many years forwine investing to be something noticeable here in
the US. Yeah, I think, you know, it's not the thing
that we're always going to reach forfirst on the shelf. And if we
(07:24):
are, you know, we're goingto go for those like medium bottles,
you know, anywhere ten to twentydollars. I mean, that's drinking normally.
And those wines aren't actually designed toage for a long time. So
you know, there's that statement ageis like fine wine honestly not a blanket
statement. Some wines really should onlygo you know, a couple of years
max, or they're going to startto taste like vinegar. So I think
(07:46):
there's been a lot of misconceptions whenit comes to the world of wine that
you know, wine just is goingto get better as it age is.
It will if it's put in veryif it's you know, a really specific
type of wine, and if it'sput in really specific conditions. And so
I think that's you know, kindof like I was saying earlier, where
we are seeking to democratize that becausewhy why would we know that? You
(08:07):
know, if I open volturinay,I'm going to throw it in my fridge
and finish it the next day.If I didn't finish it that night,
that's not what wine investing is.Wine investing is, you know, we
have to hold this private product,which is a biological product, which takes
a lot of effort. So it'sand there's all these kinds of rules.
(08:28):
I think, you know, usas Americans especially don't necessarily understand like all
of the specifications. And you know, for example, there's this thing we
do where we ensure what's called provenance, and that basically is like a government
document that says this wine came fromthis place at this time, moved here,
has been stored in these specifications,and because of that, we know
(08:52):
that the quality is going to begood by the time you open it.
So there's just all of these littlethat I don't think the domestically we're very
educated on and you know it's notour everyday wine, So why would we
our goal? Right that that makessense because you know now that you're talking
about that, But I think youknow, like I said, the majority
(09:15):
of people when they buy wine,all they think about is oh, I'm
just going to drink it and keepmoving and not realizing the value of what
they are drinking and how it gotthere. So can you jump into a
little bit about the process and howthe minimal amount of money it takes to
start investing. I think that's theother big issue that people, you know,
(09:35):
start to get scared of is ohmy gosh, I gotta pay what
you know to get into this,and they always want to know the return
of the investment. So let's talka little bit about all of that.
Yeah, So just kind of forcontext, we are always going to buy
these wines at the case level.And you think about like kind of fancy
wine and how you always see themin the movies coming in that like big
(10:00):
wouldn't crate. That's essentially kind oflike the seat of quality. So we
want to keep everything in that originalone crate. I always say, it's
like baseball cards. It's going tobe worth more later when we keep everything
intact in that original packaging. Sowe're always going to buy by the case.
That being said, at this level, you know, like I said,
kind of top five percent of thewines that are produced globally. So
(10:22):
the average cost of the case ofwine at that level is usually around one
thousand dollars, sometimes a little bitmore, sometimes a little bit less.
But that's basically why we've created thatas a starting point at youovest a thousand
dollars is our minimums, you'll getabout one case of wine. You know,
definitely would be more ideal to diversifyand have multiple cases if we can.
But just as kind of like aninitial hedge, that's basically your starting
(10:46):
point. When it comes to returns, one's pretty crazy. It's very steady.
It's the lowest on the sharp ratioin terms of like volatility, doesn't
really move with the market, whichis the other cool thing, so it's
not really connected to any of thesekind of economics upturns or downturns. Wine
is pretty stable and that people arealways drinking wine, so the return pretty
(11:11):
level. I would say the averagerate of return over a twelve year or
twelve year or twelve month period isusually around eleven percent on average, which
is pretty crazy if you think aboutit. That being said, it definitely
you're not going to get an elevenpercent return every single year. We really
have to wait for that wine todevelop, and that's again where that patient's
(11:33):
piece comes in. You know,but at the end of five years you
might be looking at a fifty percentreturn on your original investment. So wow,
that is really really awesome. Iknow that you are so for all
of us out there who who reallyare looking for a way to invest and
they are confused about you know,how does it work? Portfolio managers get
(11:58):
it, you know, a paintinga portfolio their own. I know,
like Kimberly and I are proud investorswith the novest and we are so like,
what's to have you as our portfoliomanagers? Tell us yes, yes,
man, we have had such agreat experience with you and guiding us
on this journey. But tell ourcommunity how what you offer as a portfolio
(12:26):
manager, Like how you can likesettle people's fears and and you know,
guide them through the process and howyou interact with them over the course of
a year's time span and stuff likethat to give people that like idea of
what to expect. Yeah, whatI would say is that kind of the
biggest piece of my job is educationbecause you know, basically, like we've
(12:46):
been talking about, this isn't likeyou know, you're run as a mill
type thing that you're just gonna knowabout it comes to trading at this level,
you know, me and my teamare all at a certain level of
what's called amlier. So we've beenstudying wine for an extensive amount of time,
So it basically is my job toadvise you the best basically, you
know, like you're you're broker,your financial advisor, same thing, but
(13:09):
just you know, it's a drinkableproducts instead, which is kind of cooler.
So we have my job a lotof the front end education. So
basically that's telling you how the investmentis going to work, how things are
going to be structured, what toexpect, and then as that portfolio growth,
(13:30):
we can have basically portfolio reviews,talk about certain positions if they're moving,
you know, why is this whydid we buy this specific wine,
give you a little bit buying logicthere, and talk through kind of the
selling process as well, when wethink we should sell this based on if
I maturity window, yeah, becauseif we definitely understand that this can be
(13:52):
you know, not a lot ofpeople know about wine, so why would
you want to risk a lot offunds. So basically that's my job to
make people right right yeah, andgiving them a peace of mind about what
to expect and how, and andthat patience that is required because this is
not a situation where like Lauren,send me some wine, I need I'm
having a dinner party. This isnot what that is exactly exactly. Yeah,
(14:18):
yeah, because we can definitely saythat you have absolutely educated us on
all of that and how to balanceand knowing when to move and not to
move, and we you know,communicate with you several times throughout the year
just so we can get that understanding. But I loved your your truth through
that because there's many people would wouldjust say, I'll go ahead and just
keep you know, add more money, add more money, and and the
(14:39):
reality is that's not always necessary tokeep adding. You want to see the
growth and that. So so here'smy question. You talked a little bit
about the inflation resistant and some ofthe recession resistance, So what about the
direct ownership and how does and alsothe tax advantages that come with that.
Yeah, so a cool part aboutthat. As an alternative investment, I
(15:01):
love having, you know, adecent portfolio it's alternative investments. But what
I've found, especially at certain levels, is that a lot of those are
going to be fractionalized type things,so you're locked in. You basically just
do what the group does. Andthat's great for that type of investment,
but we kind of wanted to beeffective of our investors and that everything that
(15:24):
we purchase for you in a particularportfolio is owned exceptionally like only by that
individual. So that I think givesyou a lot more autonomy when it comes
to this investment. So you know, if for whatever reason you need a
little bit of liquidity and we needto sell off the case of one,
we can do. That might nothappen immediately, got to look at all
(15:45):
the market instructure and all that,but it's possible for you know, all
of the returns if this wine goesup by eight hundred percent, which I've
seen happen, that's all yours.You know, you're not putting it up
to anybody. So I think thatpiece of like just protecting our investors was
the most important. When it comesto tax advantages, you're not paying taxes
(16:07):
on this type of investment until youactually sell the wine. So you know,
while we're holding these wines maybe fiveyears, that's just sitting what's called
duty free in a bonded warehouse inthe UK, So we're basically sitting tax
free, which is kind of nice. At the end of it, when
we do, it's going to bewhat's called a collectible values tax, which
(16:29):
is pretty similar to a capital game. That's true, Yeah, yeah,
well yeah, you know, UncleSam's gonna get his car regardless. That
does not surprise. We're good unlesswhat unless you drink it, then we're
good, A noted. Look,I already had my drunkness for the reasons
(16:59):
wine. Oh my goodness. Wow. But that's actually very interesting to know
because I think, you know,like I said, that's something that's that
people need to be educated on becausethat is usually a fear is not understanding
how the taxes work, and youknow, like you said, what the
full portfolio process is and all thesethings. So with you being in the
(17:21):
position that you're in and teaching andeducating, that educating is always the number
one piece that most people don't getand don't learn and aren't willing to learn
because they're so into wanting to havethat instant gratification. So I like the
fact that you know, you're saying, hey, this is not how this
works. So you know, ifthat's what you want, you know,
you can go buy your wine anddrink it tomorrow, but you're not going
(17:44):
to gain anything out of that,you know. So I think that's really
an important piece and aspect of understandingabout investing. Do you have any other
questions in Natalie, I do Iactually want to talk about this business?
Yeah, I think that that isan amazing achievement. Okay, like I
have, you know, read andresearched and watched movies and all the things,
(18:08):
and people ask me with with mybig business Divinio by Montes and my
my my journey you know in winebecause wine is my love language. Why
why don't you just get your certification? Why don't you be a Somalia And
a lot of the the people thatI've run into who have gone to that
level of certification felt rigid, right, felt like everything has to be this
(18:33):
way, like this is what you'retasting, but what if I taste this,
You're not tasting that? Like it'slike this is what's in here,
this is where it's like. AndI wanted to have I wanted to be
a little more like, Okay,if you taste that, you taste that,
it's your palette, is your experience. But I don't get the sense
that you are that rigid. Ifeel like, you know you have you're
a little bit more a fluid inthat like open and So tell me a
(18:57):
little bit about how you navigate thebeing a Somalie, what it means to
you, how you you put itto youth in what you're doing with you
noves, and then how you howit has sort of made you interact with
you know, the common folks.You don't know a whole lot about wine,
but I just want to talk toyou about it, you know.
(19:17):
Yeah, I think when I startedthe journey, it was really just like
passing forward. I fell in lovewith wine because for me, it's so
sensory in that you smell it andfind you of the place where you had
that wine, and you taste itand you get all these and so for
me it was just kind of thisawesome thing that always called back to like
(19:41):
a really good time. And thenon top of that, I kind of
fell in love with really nerdy aspectslike this is chemistry and the decisions that
a winemaker makes today is going toaffect a product that we're drinking twenty years
from now, and I just thoughtthat was so cool. So my journey
kind of and I really wanted toget into that aspect of it, the
wine making side. I actually forthis really amazing Burgundian family out of France
(20:11):
and made wine for them, whichwas the hardest, craziest thing I've ever
done in my whole life. ButI'm really glad side of it because I
don't think I would have the samelevel of appreciation for you know, all
of these grapes going to this bottleand all of the steps and the people
and the processes that make it happen. So that was kind of the start,
(20:33):
I think, and then from thisit became you know, wine is
so personal, like I said,evokes different memories for different people. You're
of course you're or life. You'regonna smell different things, and I'm gonna
smell like for example, if I'mtasting a sauvignon blanc, one of the
key elements that you usually smell iscalled ammonia. I never call it like
(20:57):
that because it doesn't smell like thatto me. It's like hatty. So
that's what I say. So,you know, and that's enough. I
You know, it does go rigidbeing a SMA as. You know,
you're either going to go working inwine making or you're going to go into
serve as the working and really highrestaurants. I experienced both of them.
(21:22):
Me and I really like working withpeople and talking about the things that they're
passionate about, so I kind ofI don't know how, but a long
time ago when I started this,I manifested that I wanted to work in
building portfolios. I want to buywine for people that I know. And
then I kind of had that realizationthe other day of like, oh,
crap, I did it. Mygosh, that's amazing. Yeah, there
(21:48):
you go, that's awesome. Yeah, I definitely for Sharon, No,
it's no problem. I think,you know, the rigidity, and I
think that's why a lot of peopledon't get into wine, because it can
come off snooty and there's so manyrules and the emidating right. Yeah.
I just a'm always like, ifyou like this, that's what you like.
(22:10):
I'm not going to tell you it'sa good bad bottle. If that's
you enjoy, that's what you enjoy. If you think that this bottle Jumpidel
pairs well with popcorn, then hellyeah eat it. You know, exactly
right, right, And we hada lot of that same experience over the
weekend, you know, when Natalieand I were out and did a wine
expo and we were just talking aboutthat before you came on, how we
(22:33):
were expecting. I guess a littlebit different type of experience. But I
love just what you just said.If you know, it's not about what
you think, it's about what thatperson thinks is when they're drinking that.
Hey, if they want to eatit with that popcorn, eat it.
If they want to have with thatchocolate, that's your business. But you
write so many people will continually tellyou, Oh, that's not what you're
smelling, And that's what you know. That's what I'm smelling, you know,
(22:53):
So you don't know that wine withthis food right right right. There's
always been that attitude, Oh,you can't have red with this, you
can't have white with this. SoI definitely can say I've learned a lot
more about I've always enjoyed drinking itbecause I've enjoyed the experience, but since
now that I've connected many years ago, I've really come to actually appreciate it
(23:15):
more. And then now learning iton this level when it comes to the
investment side of it as well,it does make you think differently about what
you're doing, why you're doing it. You know, not so much that
I care about the purchasing part ofit, but just understanding the whole process.
Because we've even talked about the factthat, you know, we would
love to have the Vigno by Montella'slabel stuck on one of those bottles,
(23:37):
But how do we get there andright now? Yeah? Yeah, yeah,
yes, yes. But you knowwhat, one of the things that
I love that you said is thatit's about education, and that's what it
is for me. So if I'mstanding in front of a group of people
and I'm doing a tasting and theydon't like a particular wine and it has
(23:59):
to do with, you know,what they're eating and stuff, that I
can teach them that based on theacidity of what you're drinking plus the acidity
of what you're eating, that couldbe the class. You know, so
try it, you know, washyour palette, try it with this,
and then all of a sudden they'relike, oh my gosh, I actually
love this. You know. Sothere is a level of you know,
what we do that isn't just tellingpeople what they should, you know,
(24:22):
taste or enjoy, but it isshowing them how to enjoy what they already
think they love. But considering allof these other elements just like the chocolate
pairing, you know, and certaindark chocolates are not good with high acidity
wines because it will clash and oneof them will taste terrible, you know.
So it's that level of education thatI think people really appreciate and makes
(24:45):
it less intimidating the experience of wine, you know. Yeah, I'll tell
you one of my party tricks whenit comes to like talking about pairing.
It really has a lot of personalpreferences, but I'll bring a bunch of
lines, cut them up, havesomebody drink a wine first, smell it,
tastes it all that tell me whatthey stuck on the line, and
(25:07):
then immediately taste that wine again andyou can just really see how acidity all
stuff changes the wine really drastically.And so yeah, it just makes it
a little bit approachable when you can. I think that is a fun experiment.
I'm going to add that into mytireexactly, Yeah, exactly, I'm
(25:30):
gonna have to borrow that. Yeah. And then the other thing I would
mention that could you talk a littlebit more about the educations because I know
that vinovest musually, whether it's itmonthly or quarterly. You guys put on
an actual virtual meeting about what hasbeen, what's been upgrader, what's going
(25:52):
on in the wine world. Socan you talk a little bit more about
that for our listeners. Yeah,we're trying to put out as much con
as we possibly can. You know, we're still a small team, so
it still ut. But every quartermy CEO does basically a recap. We
talked about what moved, what didn't, what the market trends are. He
and the head of our wine tradingteam, who's also a master of wine,
(26:17):
she'll talk about her predictions and soit's just a fun interactive way to
kind of get a little bit moreinsight. But then pretty much every month
we try to put out some kindof webinars. So, for example,
I think last month it was wejust partnered with NBA player CJ McCollum,
and so he came on and tellus about his winery and you know,
just random little tidbits of what's goingon in the market or what we're excited
(26:41):
about. And we also have teamon the boots or boots on the ground
in Italy and France, and sosometimes they'll go directly to producers and we'll
get a the you know, ina webinar, the actual vineyards that we're
investing in and all that kind ofstuff. So yeah, we're trying really
to make a much more approachable wayof looking at wine. Yeah, and
(27:03):
I like that. And one thingpeople cannot say that once they do get
involved with you invested that you educationis always there, you know. And
because there'll be a lot of people, well they didn't tell me this,
Well this because you weren't listening,Okay, because there's the education is absolutely
there and that's a big part ofhow we learn. And even when I
had first seen this and I hadapproached now it, I was like,
(27:23):
oh my gosh, Nay said,we got to do this. You know,
we started to truly educate ourselves beforewe dived in, and we've had
several meetings and you know, webuilt that repport and trust with you guys
in order to move forward. Andthat's really what it's about. And that's
the thing I love with you guys. You're actually building partnerships with all your
investors. It's not just hey,we're taking your money and that's it.
(27:44):
So I think that's an important paceand there's even a community where investors can
communicate and there and you know,all of that stuff. So it's just
really an awesome it's a whole it'sa real awesome community. I guess it's
the best way to put it.Yeah. Yeah, we definitely want to
like open and not snooty as possible, right right, right, yeah,
(28:08):
And like you said, it makesus us every day. People feel more
involved. And then you know,and I think the thing that people need
to come up to with the attitudeor take away from them is that you
know, you never know who you'relooking at and what they're about and what
they can invest in, what theycan do. So when you start to
take away that's so called uppity personaor attitude or whatever you want to call
(28:33):
it, then I think people startto understand that, you know, the
person that's in those shorts could bethe best millionaire you've ever met. You
know, you don't know, youknow, so there's everyday millionaires around walking
around. And like I said,the good part about this is that you
don't have to be a millionaire inorder to get started, but it can
get you there if that's what you'relooking for. And I think that's the
most important part to understand about investingis that there's so many different ways to
(28:56):
do it, and talking about wineinvestment has been except the a great thing
for us, and we've been excited, we've we've are we coming up on
a year or two years? Natalieoh Man, I think, uh,
well a year. I know,we just passed the year. I think
okay, okay, I think,yeah, yeah, how fast time it?
(29:19):
Right? So but but yeah,so you know, I said that
this has been a great conversation.But Lauren, is there anything else that
you would like to share with usor you know, with the listeners,
you know about how they can getstarted and how they could reach you.
Yeah. Absolutely, So basically theway to get started is you would just
(29:41):
create your own topa on genoves dotco. One questioning is that we are
doing with the investing as well,so you can search us either via genovest
or withskey vest with you is supercrazy, a little bit quicker of a
turnaround time fifteen hundred dollars minimum there, but you actually own a full cask
of whiskey and we hold it forabout three years and then sell it,
(30:03):
so that one's pretty crazy. Thenwe can also do my emails all that
I'm sure we'll be listed, butyeah, feel free to reach out directly
with any kind of questions and thenwe're on Instagram and Twitter as the Genovest.
All right, all right, Natalie, do you have anything any close
questions? I don't. This wasso awesome. We appreciate what you do,
(30:27):
we appreciate what you are going todo, and we appreciate you sharing
your world with our community. Thishas been a great insight into wine and
genovs, and we look forward towhat comes from here. Awesome. Well,
thank you guys, such a pleasure. I always enjoy getting to chat
with you too, so thank youagain for having me on. Well it
(30:51):
is a pleasure. Thank you really, and and go and enjoy the rest
of your eating. We'll be talkingto you soon. Okay, sounds good.
All right, Lauren? All right, Natalie Woo, you're talking about
a great conversation to have this evening. Yes, by right, I much.
(31:11):
I mean I feel like I couldtalk about this topic and to Lauren
and learn from her for like forever, like right endlessly exactly exactly. But
the thing that I love is thesimplicity of what we learned tonight. And
I'm hoping that all the listeners andlike I said, our community is entralled
(31:33):
and what we learned and that youknow, we we do plan on.
Our goal is to be able tohave more conversations about this with our community.
Uh, you know, so wecan you know, if you're really,
really truly interested in learning more aboutan investment, we can get you
to where you need to be andget you connected to the right people.
But we really truly want you tounderstand is that how valuable it is and
what we've learned from it. AndI think that's the most important part is
(31:56):
that we can actually say that weare doing this and you know where we
started from and where we're going toand what our purpose and goals is.
But the thing I love is that, you know, we want women to
understand that this is more than justthe norm. And like we were saying
earlier, you know investment women ininvesting, it's changing. But you know,
(32:16):
we don't always get involved because wethink it's a man's game and that's
not that's not true, right,you know, that's not true at all,
And it's actually very accessible for us. It's it's very understandable. It's
not like fear based. It isbroken down and Lauren and her team do
such a great job of offering guidanceanytime you want a meeting and say I
(32:40):
just need the level fit. Ineed you to tell me where I'm at,
what should I do next? Howyou know she will get on a
call with you. So having aportfolio guide or a portfolio manager like her
is what makes it that much better. Because I love wine. I know
a lot about wine, but Idon't you know, this is over this
last here is when we started learningabout investing in life. I haven't heard
(33:02):
of it before, right, sothere's new to me as well that it
never felt out of reach for me, and it wouldn't for anyone else,
you know, exactly. And that'sand then the other thing too that's important
is that once you do set upyour log in page, you will you
know, as everything gets set upfor you, you actually will have a
(33:24):
dashboard so you can actually go inand you can look at things yourself to
see where you're at if you're comfortable. If you're not comfortable, you can
close out at any time that youwant. But like Lauren said, you
know the long it's a long terminvestment. So if you're looking to get
your your money overnight, it's notgoing to happen. So essentially, if
it's an invest right you do.Because if you're investing your money today and
(33:47):
then you're like, yo, thisisn't going anywhere a month from now,
well then you know you really haven'tgained anything. And actually you can actually
lose money in that process if youdon't give it the time that you need
and right you know, to makeinvestment hole and to you know, get
your return on that investment. SoI think that's right. And really in
(34:07):
that case, if someone is ifsomeone is expect having that expectation, they're
not really looking to invest. They'relooking for a get rich quick and so
they're in the wrong. You know, they're on the wrong platform anyway,
you know exactly, because there's plentyof those get rich scams going on out
there, so y'all be careful.We'll be careful. We'll be careful out
(34:28):
there. This one is not oneof those. And this is something that
is if they take care, theylisten, they understand what your goals are,
what your your you know, yourlong term time frame is like five,
ten, fifty, you know whatI mean, like twenty five year
plan like whatever. It is.But people, we I just want to
(34:50):
reiterate and really stop my foot onthe These are the top five percent of
wines globally, So you're not thisis not just what you're buying in your
grocery store and they're just like holdingit for you in a warehouse. That's
not what this is. So theseare not things that you even if you
had a bottle of it, thatyou'd want to just pop open and like
sinners in one night and be likethat was that experience? You know,
(35:15):
So we have to think about thequality of what you're investing in when you're
talking about investments. And that's whatI really love about this process. That's
right, that's right, and you'reabsolutely right. Yeah, so you know
there's there really isn't any excuses tobe honest with you, you know,
when if you do decide to getinto this. But it's a mindset thing.
So the bottom line is if youif you're thinking one way and you
(35:38):
know that's not the direction that thiscompany goes or how investments work in the
wine world, then you're totally goingto be wasting your time and everybody else's.
So it is truly about mindset andknowing excuse me what your purpose is
and why you want to do this. But you know, I think that,
yeah that you know, a lotwas said tonight and I think,
you know, it was great informationand and like so we will continue to
(36:01):
have these conversations because we think thatthey're needed and they're necessary, especially for
those who are interested in wanting tolearn more about the wine investing in it,
and you know we are those Weare the go to people for that.
So do you have any last wordsNatalie before we close out tonight?
I don't, except that I wantto I want to reach out to Lauren
(36:22):
and ask her where she is exactlyin California because I'm going there. So
I'm like, maybe we could meetup exactly exactly we're supposed to go to
Napa Valley. You know, Iknow all these plans. Yeah, I'm
like, I need you. Whereare you? I'm gonna find you,
girl, because we need to hangout, right. Yeah, that would
be a long, long night probablyyou know, running to the night till
(36:44):
in the morning at the rate youknow, the way we go do things.
So yeah, absolutely, absolutely absolutelythis was a great conversation, great
conversation. It absolutely was. Sobefore we close tonight's show. I hope
you all enjoyed our conversation wine investingand how you can be creative with your
portfolio, whether you use it forbusiness, or for pleasure, retirement,
(37:06):
or for fun. You know.If you want to learn more, please
feel free to reach out to myselfKimberly at w S B I A LC
at gmail dot com. Or youcan definitely reach out to missus Natalie Montes
and Nanley. What is your emailagain? My email is the genial by
Monte at gmail dot com. Okay, so repelling is kind of hard,
(37:27):
so we'll we'll provide that. Yes, we will have that in the show.
Not absolutely, because because I can'teven remember I'm looking at I gotta
I gotta be complicated, like complicated, beautiful lines. I love you,
know you do, but that's whyI love you. Okay, complication,
Okay, gotta have somebody on theteam complex complex, not complicated, yes,
(37:51):
yes, okay, okay, okay. So anyway, for those,
like I said, if you guysare interested in learning more about investing,
or you want to talk to usabout in general, or you would like
to learn more about Natalie's business,Divinia by Montes, because she is fantastic
at what she does, so pleasereach out to us. Let's chat about
how to take those steps that youguys want to take, turn those dreams
(38:13):
into goals and of course, ifyou want more of your resource for success
podcasts, Monetary donations to support thepodcasts are now accepted on cash app,
PayPal, Goodpods, Tipjar, oryou can go directly to the website at
wwwwsbi LC dot com. And again, we would like to thank you all
for listening to us tonight. We'llbe back next week with more amazing guests
and be sure to follow us oniHeartRadio or wherever you listen to your podcast.
(38:35):
But until then, enjoy the restof the evening and good night,
good night everyone. We will beback next Thursday evening at seven pm.
Follow us on spreaker www dot spreakerdot com, slash user slash WSBI if
you are new WSBI website anytime atwww dot WSB, I l l see
(39:00):
dot com, and on Facebook,Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and instagramm
Good evening, Welcome to WSBI,your Resource for Success podcast program where you
get to meet inspiring women owned businessesfrom across the country. And now for
your host, Kimberly mcklemore. Allright, good evening and welcome to WSBI,
(00:38):
your Resource for Success podcast program whereyou get to meet inspiring entrepreneurs and
women own businesses from across the country. I am your host, Kimberly McLamore,
CEO and founder of the Women's SmallBusiness Initiative LLC and award winning author.
And tonight I'm excited because I havemy great special co host on,
Miss Natalie Montes, who is theowner of the Venue by Montes. Hello,
(00:59):
miss nat hey girl, Hey,thanks for having me, of course
as always, of course, ofcourse, and of course I want to
welcome you all to another night ofsharing with us. We have special guest
head Portfolio Advisor Vinovest, Miss LaureneBletcher. Before joining the Vnovest team,
Lauren has worked for the past eightyears to become a somalier by passing courses
(01:25):
through both the Court of Masters Somaliersand the Wine Spirits and Education Trust.
This passion led her to Vinovest,a wine investing firm where she now works
helping clients that diversify their investment portfoliosinto alternative assets such as fine wine and
whiskey. Lauren's area of expertise liesin investment grade wine, which consists of
the top five percent of wine producedglobally. She also specializes in rare scotch
(01:48):
and American whiskey. She is ableto utilize both assets and curating a well
rounded alternative investment portfolio. So,without further ado, please help me.
Welcome to my platform, Miss LaureneBlecher. Hey, how are you.
Yeah, I'm I'm good. I'mso excited to chat with you guys.
Well we are. We're so happythat we're finally having this conversation. So
(02:10):
you're here, and thank you foryour time tonight. This is going to
be a great conversation. Absolutely,I'm sorry, go ahead, No,
it interesting. I'm so excited,especially after you know we've gotten to work
on your guys's portfolio and kind ofbuild that relationship. I'm excited to help
in any way I can. Allright, Well, you know, like
you said, we are a partof this, but before we dive into
(02:34):
that, I always like to askthe guests just to tell us a little
bit more about who Lauren really is. Yeah, well I am hoppey.
We were getting no. No,I'm thirty seven seeing a girl living in
the city and got really into winekind of early on in my career.
(03:00):
But it's always kind of been likea back end, you know, kind
of passion project. And then thepandemic hit and kind of shook everybody's worlds
and that was my time to kindof figure out all right, kind of
figure this out or let it go. So that was when I decided to
frear out of it. And itwas also kind of drawing when Crypto was
(03:21):
really weird and like big, andI didn't understand it for the life of
me, but knew I needed tobe an investing in something whin that that
made sense to me. It's aphysical thing, and so that's kind of
where that whole thing came from.So yeah, it's been been quite a
journey. But yeah, I'm justa regular girl trying to figure out what
(03:44):
to do with all with any kindof fun in this uh, in this
crazy economy, right right, Iagree with that, But I love I
love what you just said that ittook you twenty twenty to sit down and
really truly decide what was best foryou. And you know, we all
know that Crypto his his. Youknow, everybody thinks it's the greatest thing
since slice Pie. But at theend of the day, it is probably
(04:04):
the most awkward thing because you're eithergonna win or you're gonna lose. There's
no in between on Crypto. Yes, so, you know, I like
the fact that you, you know, decided to invest in something that has
a lot more stability, and you'regoing to talk about that stability as we
go on. But I'm sure whoeverelse has any questions, go ahead,
(04:25):
and Nan and I think you gotsomething bursting out. Yes, I really,
yeah, I really just want tohone in what you said about it
made sense to you? Tell mewhat how did it make sense to you?
Because I know for a lot ofus, well especially women, okay,
investments has not been something that's onon our priority list that we felt
accessible to that It's been a man'sworld really to be honest, And so
(04:49):
what made this actually make sense toyou as a woman, as you know,
in the pursuits that you were pursuing. How did it make sense?
I want to know? Yeah,I think kind of the biggest thing that
Drew made of Geno invest in thefirst place was that we were trying to
democratize find wine investing. So samething in like the traditional assets wine investing
(05:12):
has really kind of been like yourold boys club. You know, you
needed to have a broker and aninsurance type of storage and all of those
things that really cut out the majorityof the population. Not to mention,
you know, these types of winesthat we're investing in. This is not
the stuff that we're going to bedrinking on a Tuesday, Like. This
is really expensive and so those ofus that didn't have access to that type
(05:35):
of wine, why would we everknow that this is an investment vehicle.
So the fact that we were kindof offering all of that education and you
know, that opportunity to invest inwine and utilize this as an asset class,
I think was a big thing forme, not only as like a
young investor, but as a woman. The other pools that have figured out
(05:55):
when it comes to wine is thatwe as women are we're better investors because
more often than not, we're waymore patient, we're way less out when
they get volatile, we do alot less you know, rampant buying and
selling, or the more patient.You know, this is a generalization,
but most you know, statistically thishas been the case. So when it
(06:16):
came to wine, it kind ofmade sense because essentially, the longer I
can hold some specific cases, notonly is the actual structure of the wine
changing, so we're getting different tastingnotes and it's becoming more desirable to drink,
but we also have a scarcity factor. You know, there's a finite
amount of all of wines made,especially these, you know, like collector
(06:40):
edition wines. There's only so manyand other people around the world are going
to be drinking those. So itbecomes a simple supplying demands. The longer
I can hold it, the morepatient I can be, the more valuable
that wine's going to be in end. Right, that's awesome. Listen up,
ladies. We were made for this. We were made for this exactly
(07:00):
exactly. But you know, theother thing I wanted to ask real quickly,
kind of on the base same basiswhere you're talking about, is I
want to know, if you evenhave the answer to this, then why
has it taken so many years forwine investing to be something noticeable here in
the US. Yeah, I think, you know, it's not the thing
that we're always going to reach forfirst on the shelf. And if we
(07:24):
are, you know, we're goingto go for those like medium bottles,
you know, anywhere ten to twentydollars. I mean, that's drinking normally.
And those wines aren't actually designed toage for a long time. So
you know, there's that statement ageis like fine wine honestly not a blanket
statement. Some wines really should onlygo you know, a couple of years
max, or they're going to startto taste like vinegar. So I think
(07:46):
there's been a lot of misconceptions whenit comes to the world of wine that
you know, wine just is goingto get better as it age is.
It will if it's put in veryif it's you know, a really specific
type of wine, and if it'sput in really specific conditions. And so
I think that's you know, kindof like I was saying earlier, where
we are seeking to democratize that becausewhy why would we know that? You
(08:07):
know, if I open volturinay,I'm going to throw it in my fridge
and finish it the next day.If I didn't finish it that night,
that's not what wine investing is.Wine investing is, you know, we
have to hold this private product,which is a biological product, which takes
a lot of effort. So it'sand there's all these kinds of rules.
(08:28):
I think, you know, usas Americans especially don't necessarily understand like all
of the specifications. And you know, for example, there's this thing we
do where we ensure what's called provenance, and that basically is like a government
document that says this wine came fromthis place at this time, moved here,
has been stored in these specifications,and because of that, we know
(08:52):
that the quality is going to begood by the time you open it.
So there's just all of these littlethat I don't think the domestically we're very
educated on and you know it's notour everyday wine, So why would we
our goal? Right that that makessense because you know now that you're talking
about that, But I think youknow, like I said, the majority
(09:15):
of people when they buy wine,all they think about is oh, I'm
just going to drink it and keepmoving and not realizing the value of what
they are drinking and how it gotthere. So can you jump into a
little bit about the process and howthe minimal amount of money it takes to
start investing. I think that's theother big issue that people, you know,
(09:35):
start to get scared of is ohmy gosh, I gotta pay what
you know to get into this,and they always want to know the return
of the investment. So let's talka little bit about all of that.
Yeah, So just kind of forcontext, we are always going to buy
these wines at the case level.And you think about like kind of fancy
wine and how you always see themin the movies coming in that like big
(10:00):
wouldn't crate. That's essentially kind oflike the seat of quality. So we
want to keep everything in that originalone crate. I always say, it's
like baseball cards. It's going tobe worth more later when we keep everything
intact in that original packaging. Sowe're always going to buy by the case.
That being said, at this level, you know, like I said,
kind of top five percent of thewines that are produced globally. So
(10:22):
the average cost of the case ofwine at that level is usually around one
thousand dollars, sometimes a little bitmore, sometimes a little bit less.
But that's basically why we've created thatas a starting point at youovest a thousand
dollars is our minimums, you'll getabout one case of wine. You know,
definitely would be more ideal to diversifyand have multiple cases if we can.
But just as kind of like aninitial hedge, that's basically your starting
(10:46):
point. When it comes to returns, one's pretty crazy. It's very steady.
It's the lowest on the sharp ratioin terms of like volatility, doesn't
really move with the market, whichis the other cool thing, so it's
not really connected to any of thesekind of economics upturns or downturns. Wine
is pretty stable and that people arealways drinking wine, so the return pretty
(11:11):
level. I would say the averagerate of return over a twelve year or
twelve year or twelve month period isusually around eleven percent on average, which
is pretty crazy if you think aboutit. That being said, it definitely
you're not going to get an elevenpercent return every single year. We really
have to wait for that wine todevelop, and that's again where that patient's
(11:33):
piece comes in. You know,but at the end of five years you
might be looking at a fifty percentreturn on your original investment. So wow,
that is really really awesome. Iknow that you are so for all
of us out there who who reallyare looking for a way to invest and
they are confused about you know,how does it work? Portfolio managers get
(11:58):
it, you know, a paintinga portfolio their own. I know,
like Kimberly and I are proud investorswith the novest and we are so like,
what's to have you as our portfoliomanagers? Tell us yes, yes,
man, we have had such agreat experience with you and guiding us
on this journey. But tell ourcommunity how what you offer as a portfolio
(12:26):
manager, Like how you can likesettle people's fears and and you know,
guide them through the process and howyou interact with them over the course of
a year's time span and stuff likethat to give people that like idea of
what to expect. Yeah, whatI would say is that kind of the
biggest piece of my job is educationbecause you know, basically, like we've
(12:46):
been talking about, this isn't likeyou know, you're run as a mill
type thing that you're just gonna knowabout it comes to trading at this level,
you know, me and my teamare all at a certain level of
what's called amlier. So we've beenstudying wine for an extensive amount of time,
So it basically is my job toadvise you the best basically, you
know, like you're you're broker,your financial advisor, same thing, but
(13:09):
just you know, it's a drinkableproducts instead, which is kind of cooler.
So we have my job a lotof the front end education. So
basically that's telling you how the investmentis going to work, how things are
going to be structured, what toexpect, and then as that portfolio growth,
(13:30):
we can have basically portfolio reviews,talk about certain positions if they're moving,
you know, why is this whydid we buy this specific wine,
give you a little bit buying logicthere, and talk through kind of the
selling process as well, when wethink we should sell this based on if
I maturity window, yeah, becauseif we definitely understand that this can be
(13:52):
you know, not a lot ofpeople know about wine, so why would
you want to risk a lot offunds. So basically that's my job to
make people right right yeah, andgiving them a peace of mind about what
to expect and how, and andthat patience that is required because this is
not a situation where like Lauren,send me some wine, I need I'm
having a dinner party. This isnot what that is exactly exactly. Yeah,
(14:18):
yeah, because we can definitely saythat you have absolutely educated us on
all of that and how to balanceand knowing when to move and not to
move, and we you know,communicate with you several times throughout the year
just so we can get that understanding. But I loved your your truth through
that because there's many people would wouldjust say, I'll go ahead and just
keep you know, add more money, add more money, and and the
(14:39):
reality is that's not always necessary tokeep adding. You want to see the
growth and that. So so here'smy question. You talked a little bit
about the inflation resistant and some ofthe recession resistance, So what about the
direct ownership and how does and alsothe tax advantages that come with that.
Yeah, so a cool part aboutthat. As an alternative investment, I
(15:01):
love having, you know, adecent portfolio it's alternative investments. But what
I've found, especially at certain levels, is that a lot of those are
going to be fractionalized type things,so you're locked in. You basically just
do what the group does. Andthat's great for that type of investment,
but we kind of wanted to beeffective of our investors and that everything that
(15:24):
we purchase for you in a particularportfolio is owned exceptionally like only by that
individual. So that I think givesyou a lot more autonomy when it comes
to this investment. So you know, if for whatever reason you need a
little bit of liquidity and we needto sell off the case of one,
we can do. That might nothappen immediately, got to look at all
(15:45):
the market instructure and all that,but it's possible for you know, all
of the returns if this wine goesup by eight hundred percent, which I've
seen happen, that's all yours.You know, you're not putting it up
to anybody. So I think thatpiece of like just protecting our investors was
the most important. When it comesto tax advantages, you're not paying taxes
(16:07):
on this type of investment until youactually sell the wine. So you know,
while we're holding these wines maybe fiveyears, that's just sitting what's called
duty free in a bonded warehouse inthe UK, So we're basically sitting tax
free, which is kind of nice. At the end of it, when
we do, it's going to bewhat's called a collectible values tax, which
(16:29):
is pretty similar to a capital game. That's true, Yeah, yeah,
well yeah, you know, UncleSam's gonna get his car regardless. That
does not surprise. We're good unlesswhat unless you drink it, then we're
good, A noted. Look,I already had my drunkness for the reasons
(16:59):
wine. Oh my goodness. Wow. But that's actually very interesting to know
because I think, you know,like I said, that's something that's that
people need to be educated on becausethat is usually a fear is not understanding
how the taxes work, and youknow, like you said, what the
full portfolio process is and all thesethings. So with you being in the
(17:21):
position that you're in and teaching andeducating, that educating is always the number
one piece that most people don't getand don't learn and aren't willing to learn
because they're so into wanting to havethat instant gratification. So I like the
fact that you know, you're saying, hey, this is not how this
works. So you know, ifthat's what you want, you know,
you can go buy your wine anddrink it tomorrow, but you're not going
(17:44):
to gain anything out of that,you know. So I think that's really
an important piece and aspect of understandingabout investing. Do you have any other
questions in Natalie, I do Iactually want to talk about this business?
Yeah, I think that that isan amazing achievement. Okay, like I
have, you know, read andresearched and watched movies and all the things,
(18:08):
and people ask me with with mybig business Divinio by Montes and my
my my journey you know in winebecause wine is my love language. Why
why don't you just get your certification? Why don't you be a Somalia And
a lot of the the people thatI've run into who have gone to that
level of certification felt rigid, right, felt like everything has to be this
(18:33):
way, like this is what you'retasting, but what if I taste this,
You're not tasting that? Like it'slike this is what's in here,
this is where it's like. AndI wanted to have I wanted to be
a little more like, Okay,if you taste that, you taste that,
it's your palette, is your experience. But I don't get the sense
that you are that rigid. Ifeel like, you know you have you're
a little bit more a fluid inthat like open and So tell me a
(18:57):
little bit about how you navigate thebeing a Somalie, what it means to
you, how you you put itto youth in what you're doing with you
noves, and then how you howit has sort of made you interact with
you know, the common folks.You don't know a whole lot about wine,
but I just want to talk toyou about it, you know.
(19:17):
Yeah, I think when I startedthe journey, it was really just like
passing forward. I fell in lovewith wine because for me, it's so
sensory in that you smell it andfind you of the place where you had
that wine, and you taste itand you get all these and so for
me it was just kind of thisawesome thing that always called back to like
(19:41):
a really good time. And thenon top of that, I kind of
fell in love with really nerdy aspectslike this is chemistry and the decisions that
a winemaker makes today is going toaffect a product that we're drinking twenty years
from now, and I just thoughtthat was so cool. So my journey
kind of and I really wanted toget into that aspect of it, the
wine making side. I actually forthis really amazing Burgundian family out of France
(20:11):
and made wine for them, whichwas the hardest, craziest thing I've ever
done in my whole life. ButI'm really glad side of it because I
don't think I would have the samelevel of appreciation for you know, all
of these grapes going to this bottleand all of the steps and the people
and the processes that make it happen. So that was kind of the start,
(20:33):
I think, and then from thisit became you know, wine is
so personal, like I said,evokes different memories for different people. You're
of course you're or life. You'regonna smell different things, and I'm gonna
smell like for example, if I'mtasting a sauvignon blanc, one of the
key elements that you usually smell iscalled ammonia. I never call it like
(20:57):
that because it doesn't smell like thatto me. It's like hatty. So
that's what I say. So,you know, and that's enough. I
You know, it does go rigidbeing a SMA as. You know,
you're either going to go working inwine making or you're going to go into
serve as the working and really highrestaurants. I experienced both of them.
(21:22):
Me and I really like working withpeople and talking about the things that they're
passionate about, so I kind ofI don't know how, but a long
time ago when I started this,I manifested that I wanted to work in
building portfolios. I want to buywine for people that I know. And
then I kind of had that realizationthe other day of like, oh,
crap, I did it. Mygosh, that's amazing. Yeah, there
(21:48):
you go, that's awesome. Yeah, I definitely for Sharon, No,
it's no problem. I think,you know, the rigidity, and I
think that's why a lot of peopledon't get into wine, because it can
come off snooty and there's so manyrules and the emidating right. Yeah.
I just a'm always like, ifyou like this, that's what you like.
(22:10):
I'm not going to tell you it'sa good bad bottle. If that's
you enjoy, that's what you enjoy. If you think that this bottle Jumpidel
pairs well with popcorn, then hellyeah eat it. You know, exactly
right, right, And we hada lot of that same experience over the
weekend, you know, when Natalieand I were out and did a wine
expo and we were just talking aboutthat before you came on, how we
(22:33):
were expecting. I guess a littlebit different type of experience. But I
love just what you just said.If you know, it's not about what
you think, it's about what thatperson thinks is when they're drinking that.
Hey, if they want to eatit with that popcorn, eat it.
If they want to have with thatchocolate, that's your business. But you
write so many people will continually tellyou, Oh, that's not what you're
smelling, And that's what you know. That's what I'm smelling, you know,
(22:53):
So you don't know that wine withthis food right right right. There's
always been that attitude, Oh,you can't have red with this, you
can't have white with this. SoI definitely can say I've learned a lot
more about I've always enjoyed drinking itbecause I've enjoyed the experience, but since
now that I've connected many years ago, I've really come to actually appreciate it
(23:15):
more. And then now learning iton this level when it comes to the
investment side of it as well,it does make you think differently about what
you're doing, why you're doing it. You know, not so much that
I care about the purchasing part ofit, but just understanding the whole process.
Because we've even talked about the factthat, you know, we would
love to have the Vigno by Montella'slabel stuck on one of those bottles,
(23:37):
But how do we get there andright now? Yeah? Yeah, yeah,
yes, yes. But you knowwhat, one of the things that
I love that you said is thatit's about education, and that's what it
is for me. So if I'mstanding in front of a group of people
and I'm doing a tasting and theydon't like a particular wine and it has
(23:59):
to do with, you know,what they're eating and stuff, that I
can teach them that based on theacidity of what you're drinking plus the acidity
of what you're eating, that couldbe the class. You know, so
try it, you know, washyour palette, try it with this,
and then all of a sudden they'relike, oh my gosh, I actually
love this. You know. Sothere is a level of you know,
what we do that isn't just tellingpeople what they should, you know,
(24:22):
taste or enjoy, but it isshowing them how to enjoy what they already
think they love. But considering allof these other elements just like the chocolate
pairing, you know, and certaindark chocolates are not good with high acidity
wines because it will clash and oneof them will taste terrible, you know.
So it's that level of education thatI think people really appreciate and makes
(24:45):
it less intimidating the experience of wine, you know. Yeah, I'll tell
you one of my party tricks whenit comes to like talking about pairing.
It really has a lot of personalpreferences, but I'll bring a bunch of
lines, cut them up, havesomebody drink a wine first, smell it,
tastes it all that tell me whatthey stuck on the line, and
(25:07):
then immediately taste that wine again andyou can just really see how acidity all
stuff changes the wine really drastically.And so yeah, it just makes it
a little bit approachable when you can. I think that is a fun experiment.
I'm going to add that into mytireexactly, Yeah, exactly, I'm
(25:30):
gonna have to borrow that. Yeah. And then the other thing I would
mention that could you talk a littlebit more about the educations because I know
that vinovest musually, whether it's itmonthly or quarterly. You guys put on
an actual virtual meeting about what hasbeen, what's been upgrader, what's going
(25:52):
on in the wine world. Socan you talk a little bit more about
that for our listeners. Yeah,we're trying to put out as much con
as we possibly can. You know, we're still a small team, so
it still ut. But every quartermy CEO does basically a recap. We
talked about what moved, what didn't, what the market trends are. He
and the head of our wine tradingteam, who's also a master of wine,
(26:17):
she'll talk about her predictions and soit's just a fun interactive way to
kind of get a little bit moreinsight. But then pretty much every month
we try to put out some kindof webinars. So, for example,
I think last month it was wejust partnered with NBA player CJ McCollum,
and so he came on and tellus about his winery and you know,
just random little tidbits of what's goingon in the market or what we're excited
(26:41):
about. And we also have teamon the boots or boots on the ground
in Italy and France, and sosometimes they'll go directly to producers and we'll
get a the you know, ina webinar, the actual vineyards that we're
investing in and all that kind ofstuff. So yeah, we're trying really
to make a much more approachable wayof looking at wine. Yeah, and
(27:03):
I like that. And one thingpeople cannot say that once they do get
involved with you invested that you educationis always there, you know. And
because there'll be a lot of people, well they didn't tell me this,
Well this because you weren't listening,Okay, because there's the education is absolutely
there and that's a big part ofhow we learn. And even when I
had first seen this and I hadapproached now it, I was like,
(27:23):
oh my gosh, Nay said,we got to do this. You know,
we started to truly educate ourselves beforewe dived in, and we've had
several meetings and you know, webuilt that repport and trust with you guys
in order to move forward. Andthat's really what it's about. And that's
the thing I love with you guys. You're actually building partnerships with all your
investors. It's not just hey,we're taking your money and that's it.
(27:44):
So I think that's an important paceand there's even a community where investors can
communicate and there and you know,all of that stuff. So it's just
really an awesome it's a whole it'sa real awesome community. I guess it's
the best way to put it.Yeah. Yeah, we definitely want to
like open and not snooty as possible, right right, right, yeah,
(28:08):
And like you said, it makesus us every day. People feel more
involved. And then you know,and I think the thing that people need
to come up to with the attitudeor take away from them is that you
know, you never know who you'relooking at and what they're about and what
they can invest in, what theycan do. So when you start to
take away that's so called uppity personaor attitude or whatever you want to call
(28:33):
it, then I think people startto understand that, you know, the
person that's in those shorts could bethe best millionaire you've ever met. You
know, you don't know, youknow, so there's everyday millionaires around walking
around. And like I said,the good part about this is that you
don't have to be a millionaire inorder to get started, but it can
get you there if that's what you'relooking for. And I think that's the
most important part to understand about investingis that there's so many different ways to
(28:56):
do it, and talking about wineinvestment has been except the a great thing
for us, and we've been excited, we've we've are we coming up on
a year or two years? Natalieoh Man, I think, uh,
well a year. I know,we just passed the year. I think
okay, okay, I think,yeah, yeah, how fast time it?
(29:19):
Right? So but but yeah,so you know, I said that
this has been a great conversation.But Lauren, is there anything else that
you would like to share with usor you know, with the listeners,
you know about how they can getstarted and how they could reach you.
Yeah. Absolutely, So basically theway to get started is you would just
(29:41):
create your own topa on genoves dotco. One questioning is that we are
doing with the investing as well,so you can search us either via genovest
or withskey vest with you is supercrazy, a little bit quicker of a
turnaround time fifteen hundred dollars minimum there, but you actually own a full cask
of whiskey and we hold it forabout three years and then sell it,
(30:03):
so that one's pretty crazy. Thenwe can also do my emails all that
I'm sure we'll be listed, butyeah, feel free to reach out directly
with any kind of questions and thenwe're on Instagram and Twitter as the Genovest.
All right, all right, Natalie, do you have anything any close
questions? I don't. This wasso awesome. We appreciate what you do,
(30:27):
we appreciate what you are going todo, and we appreciate you sharing
your world with our community. Thishas been a great insight into wine and
genovs, and we look forward towhat comes from here. Awesome. Well,
thank you guys, such a pleasure. I always enjoy getting to chat
with you too, so thank youagain for having me on. Well it
(30:51):
is a pleasure. Thank you really, and and go and enjoy the rest
of your eating. We'll be talkingto you soon. Okay, sounds good.
All right, Lauren? All right, Natalie Woo, you're talking about
a great conversation to have this evening. Yes, by right, I much.
(31:11):
I mean I feel like I couldtalk about this topic and to Lauren
and learn from her for like forever, like right endlessly exactly exactly. But
the thing that I love is thesimplicity of what we learned tonight. And
I'm hoping that all the listeners andlike I said, our community is entralled
(31:33):
and what we learned and that youknow, we we do plan on.
Our goal is to be able tohave more conversations about this with our community.
Uh, you know, so wecan you know, if you're really,
really truly interested in learning more aboutan investment, we can get you
to where you need to be andget you connected to the right people.
But we really truly want you tounderstand is that how valuable it is and
what we've learned from it. AndI think that's the most important part is
(31:56):
that we can actually say that weare doing this and you know where we
started from and where we're going toand what our purpose and goals is.
But the thing I love is that, you know, we want women to
understand that this is more than justthe norm. And like we were saying
earlier, you know investment women ininvesting, it's changing. But you know,
(32:16):
we don't always get involved because wethink it's a man's game and that's
not that's not true, right,you know, that's not true at all,
And it's actually very accessible for us. It's it's very understandable. It's
not like fear based. It isbroken down and Lauren and her team do
such a great job of offering guidanceanytime you want a meeting and say I
(32:40):
just need the level fit. Ineed you to tell me where I'm at,
what should I do next? Howyou know she will get on a
call with you. So having aportfolio guide or a portfolio manager like her
is what makes it that much better. Because I love wine. I know
a lot about wine, but Idon't you know, this is over this
last here is when we started learningabout investing in life. I haven't heard
(33:02):
of it before, right, sothere's new to me as well that it
never felt out of reach for me, and it wouldn't for anyone else,
you know, exactly. And that'sand then the other thing too that's important
is that once you do set upyour log in page, you will you
know, as everything gets set upfor you, you actually will have a
(33:24):
dashboard so you can actually go inand you can look at things yourself to
see where you're at if you're comfortable. If you're not comfortable, you can
close out at any time that youwant. But like Lauren said, you
know the long it's a long terminvestment. So if you're looking to get
your your money overnight, it's notgoing to happen. So essentially, if
it's an invest right you do.Because if you're investing your money today and
(33:47):
then you're like, yo, thisisn't going anywhere a month from now,
well then you know you really haven'tgained anything. And actually you can actually
lose money in that process if youdon't give it the time that you need
and right you know, to makeinvestment hole and to you know, get
your return on that investment. SoI think that's right. And really in
(34:07):
that case, if someone is ifsomeone is expect having that expectation, they're
not really looking to invest. They'relooking for a get rich quick and so
they're in the wrong. You know, they're on the wrong platform anyway,
you know exactly, because there's plentyof those get rich scams going on out
there, so y'all be careful.We'll be careful. We'll be careful out
(34:28):
there. This one is not oneof those. And this is something that
is if they take care, theylisten, they understand what your goals are,
what your your you know, yourlong term time frame is like five,
ten, fifty, you know whatI mean, like twenty five year
plan like whatever. It is.But people, we I just want to
(34:50):
reiterate and really stop my foot onthe These are the top five percent of
wines globally, So you're not thisis not just what you're buying in your
grocery store and they're just like holdingit for you in a warehouse. That's
not what this is. So theseare not things that you even if you
had a bottle of it, thatyou'd want to just pop open and like
sinners in one night and be likethat was that experience? You know,
(35:15):
So we have to think about thequality of what you're investing in when you're
talking about investments. And that's whatI really love about this process. That's
right, that's right, and you'reabsolutely right. Yeah, so you know
there's there really isn't any excuses tobe honest with you, you know,
when if you do decide to getinto this. But it's a mindset thing.
So the bottom line is if youif you're thinking one way and you
(35:38):
know that's not the direction that thiscompany goes or how investments work in the
wine world, then you're totally goingto be wasting your time and everybody else's.
So it is truly about mindset andknowing excuse me what your purpose is
and why you want to do this. But you know, I think that,
yeah that you know, a lotwas said tonight and I think,
you know, it was great informationand and like so we will continue to
(36:01):
have these conversations because we think thatthey're needed and they're necessary, especially for
those who are interested in wanting tolearn more about the wine investing in it,
and you know we are those Weare the go to people for that.
So do you have any last wordsNatalie before we close out tonight?
I don't, except that I wantto I want to reach out to Lauren
(36:22):
and ask her where she is exactlyin California because I'm going there. So
I'm like, maybe we could meetup exactly exactly we're supposed to go to
Napa Valley. You know, Iknow all these plans. Yeah, I'm
like, I need you. Whereare you? I'm gonna find you,
girl, because we need to hangout, right. Yeah, that would
be a long, long night probablyyou know, running to the night till
(36:44):
in the morning at the rate youknow, the way we go do things.
So yeah, absolutely, absolutely absolutelythis was a great conversation, great
conversation. It absolutely was. Sobefore we close tonight's show. I hope
you all enjoyed our conversation wine investingand how you can be creative with your
portfolio, whether you use it forbusiness, or for pleasure, retirement,
(37:06):
or for fun. You know.If you want to learn more, please
feel free to reach out to myselfKimberly at w S B I A LC
at gmail dot com. Or youcan definitely reach out to missus Natalie Montes
and Nanley. What is your emailagain? My email is the genial by
Monte at gmail dot com. Okay, so repelling is kind of hard,
(37:27):
so we'll we'll provide that. Yes, we will have that in the show.
Not absolutely, because because I can'teven remember I'm looking at I gotta
I gotta be complicated, like complicated, beautiful lines. I love you,
know you do, but that's whyI love you. Okay, complication,
Okay, gotta have somebody on theteam complex complex, not complicated, yes,
(37:51):
yes, okay, okay, okay. So anyway, for those,
like I said, if you guysare interested in learning more about investing,
or you want to talk to usabout in general, or you would like
to learn more about Natalie's business,Divinia by Montes, because she is fantastic
at what she does, so pleasereach out to us. Let's chat about
how to take those steps that youguys want to take, turn those dreams
(38:13):
into goals and of course, ifyou want more of your resource for success
podcasts, Monetary donations to support thepodcasts are now accepted on cash app,
PayPal, Goodpods, Tipjar, oryou can go directly to the website at
wwwwsbi LC dot com. And again, we would like to thank you all
for listening to us tonight. We'llbe back next week with more amazing guests
and be sure to follow us oniHeartRadio or wherever you listen to your podcast.
(38:35):
But until then, enjoy the restof the evening and good night,
good night everyone. We will beback next Thursday evening at seven pm.
Follow us on spreaker www dot spreakerdot com, slash user slash WSBI if
you are new WSBI website anytime atwww dot WSB, I l l see
(39:00):
dot com, and on Facebook,Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and instagramm
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