I'd like to Shout out to all the ANGELS who have supported the podcast through their kind tips and donations! Thank you for buying me a glass of wine and contributing to covering the costs to create and publish this podcast! You can be an angel too! Support the Podcast

This week I'm joined by Roman Sharifi, co-founder of the premium wine accessories brand Copain de Vin, based in Amsterdam. I saw their recent Kickstarter Campaign for "VinVoyage", which are groundbreaking, high-end gorgeous crystal PORTABLE and DURABLE wine glasses that you can take with you on vacation, to the beach or even a hike!

We get into why wine glasses matter and I confess to clumsily bringing my own with me when I travel and WHY.

Laugh and learn with Roman and I as we cover:

• What led him from teacher to sommelier to entrepreneur and the lessons he's learned about business and self care along the way
• How their prototype to a market-ready product took years of hard work and determination
• How sustainability is at the heart of the Vin Voyage glasses, aiming to replace plastic cups and promote eco-friendly practices while enjoying wine on the go.
• The innovative design of the Vin Voyage glasses not only emphasizes portability but also prioritizes the drinking experience with high-quality mouth-blown crystal. (yes- glasses matter)
• How you can get your hands on these awesome and innovative new glasses before they hit the market

To purchase the VinVoyage glasses or inquire about investing in this growing project, email Roman at info@copaindevin.com and mention the Sip With Nikki podcast.

Follow Copain de Vin on Instagram

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Smith Madrone Riesling from Spring Mountain

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But I was not capable of making from a prototype to a product to a brand. I had not the skills yet. I was like, busy with partying in Amsterdam.

Wait, I thought you said you were teaching. Were you teaching or partying?

Teaching during the weeks and partying in the weekends. That's the culture. That's the culture in Amsterdam. Really?

I know your culture.

Yeah.

Hello, welcome to Sip with Nikki. I'm Nikki Lamberti, coming to you from Sonoma County, California.

And this week I want to start with a shout out to two of our podcast angels, Jessica L. And Rob P. Thank you both for supporting the podcast through the link in the show notes, you have effectively both bought me a glass of wine.

Thank you. I see you and I appreciate you.

So if you're a regular listener by now, you know that when I find things that I'm passionate about, whether it's wine or recipes or food items, I have to share it with all of you.

So this week I am so excited to tell you about a new product that I recently discovered and that I am so excited about because it filled a need that I had. So bear with me for a minute. When I travel, I bring my own wine glasses with me. Sorry, Nerd alert. I don't know if any of you can relate to this.

Prime example. My last visit to Walt Disney World, we're staying at Disney's Beach Club Villas in a beautiful two bedroom villa with the most gorgeous kitchen.

And we pull out the wine glasses and they are literally like these short, squatty, bulbous chalices that hold a thimble worth of wine. It hurts my heart.

So after learning from these experiences over the years, I have some stemless wine glasses that are just our everyday glasses that we use at home. And I have a cardboard box rigged up to travel, but it's really clunky.

And so when I saw an Instagram ad about this new vin voyage, these beautiful crystal portable wine glasses that you can toss in a backpack to go hiking or in your suitcase to go to Disney World, I was like, oh my gosh, I need this. And it was actually a Kickstarter that I was a backer for Fast Forward. I finally got my glasses. They are awesome.

And.

And this week I'm introducing you to one of the co founders, Roman Sharifi. He is in Amsterdam. So we had to find a time nine hours apart to record.

But his story is so inspirational about how he went from being a teacher and a sommelier to a entrepreneur with his partner and to launching a brand that specializes in wine related gift products. So they have decanters and wine preservers and wine chillers. But most recently they introduced this Vin Voyage portable durable wine glass.

So you'll hear all about the journey, getting it from his brain to patent to market. It's actually not even available yet, but he has been kind enough to make it available to my listeners. That's you.

So you'll hear how you can get your hands on it. And I also loved that sustainability is at the forefront of this product and their business. So you'll hear about that.

And it wouldn't be a sip with Nikki if Roman and I did not have a sip Spotlight where we were tasting across the ocean together. So here we go with Roman Sharifi of Copain de Vin and the new Vin Voyage glasses.

So I'm going to say good morning, Roman, but for you the day is done because we have a nine hour time difference, right?

Yes. I am based in Leide, it's nearby Amsterdam in the Netherlands. And here it's almost 4pm just in.

Honor of you, so that you're comfortable, I will taste wine with you at 7:30 in the morning, beautiful California time. Because I don't want you to be lonely in your tasting. So I'll do that for you. So thank you so much for joining me from Amsterdam today.

Yeah, of course. It's my first podcast. So honored to be with you. And yeah, let's dive deeper into wine.

I think you've got this. You look very professional with your headphones. So we're going to be all good.

Thank you.

Okay, so I have to tell you, I was so excited and it must have been on social media at the end of last year that I saw your ad for your Kickstarter campaign for your Vin Voyage glasses.

And what made me right away go to the Kickstarter site, read about it and then become a backer is that I travel with wine glasses because wherever I go, I hate the glasses, especially like hotels and things like that. And so I have these stemless wine glasses that are not great quality, but they're in a box which takes up like half of my suitcase.

And it's just something that I've always done. So when I saw that you had these beautiful, high quality, really portable glasses, I was like, this is beautiful. This is what I've been looking for.

So first and foremost, thank you for solving a need I had already identified. Thank you.

Yeah, of course. Thank you for being a backer that was really special for me to sell. All those backers being so enthusiastic and so lovely about the product of id.

Yeah, that was. That was the thing that I kept going because it was very hard and challenging. It was like, almost four years of research and development.

A lot of setbacks, a lot of money, invested a lot of time, sacrificed everything. I was a teacher, and I stopped. I moved into my parents so I could invest everything into the brand.

And after seeing that everyone was so lovely about the product. Yeah, that was, like, a very special moment for me.

Oh, my gosh. So you went all in. Clearly. Tell me, how did the idea come to you to create this? We'll talk about two things today.

We'll talk about Copain de Vin, which is your existing brand, which has all different types of wine, gifts and etc. Accessories. But I want to talk specifically for a minute just about the Vin voyage, about these beautiful portable glasses.

Where did the idea come from? And why were you so passionate about it that you made all of these crazy sacrifices?

Good question. I was a teacher in Amsterdam, and besides that, I worked in a restaurant as a sommelier. That was just in the weekends, just to learn more about wine.

And I love traveling, so I traveled to France, Italy, Spain, and visit vineyards. And there was one holiday with friends that we visited Burgundy, and we went to a winery.

We bought a bottle of wine, and then on our way back to the Airbnb, we stopped at the sunset. There were cherry trees, beautiful moments.

So we had a bottle of wine, we had corkscrew, but we had no wine glass to enjoy that moment together on vacation.

And for me, it was like, okay, when I'm home, the first thing I'm going to do is buy a portable wine glass so I can enjoy these moments and we'll never face this problem again.

Huge problem.

Huge problem.

Just a catastrophe.

Yeah. Yeah. And I googled, and there was no portable wine glass that fits the needs from, like, a real wine drinker, a wine lover. And it was like, okay.

I talked to my. To my business partner. He was like an industrial product designer.

And I told him my vacation because he was also my friend, and he was like, oh, maybe I can invent something. He had a 3D printer. And I ordered, like, a portable wine glass, like a stemless wine glass. And then it was a very big one. No brands, nothing at all.

And he invented with a 3D printer, like, a case around it. It couldn't close. It was in the inside. It was protected by yoga mats. Yeah. Oh, I like just the prototype. It was so big. It was like Pokemon.

It was like a Pokeball. And it worked, but it Worked without closing. And that was like, I think six years ago. But I was not capable of making that prototype.

From a prototype to a product to a brand, it was not. I had not the skills yet. I was, like, busy with partying in Amsterdam.

Wait, I thought you said you were teaching. Were you teaching or partying?

Teaching during the weeks and partying in the weekends. That's the culture. That's the culture in Amsterdam. Really? Party. Yeah, yeah, I know.

I know your culture.

Yeah. And then my partner became an entrepreneur. He was also a fan of traveling. And for me, it was not, like, really possible in my mind.

And I didn't have the belief that it's. You can travel and have a business and everything. For me, it was like, oh, okay, you are going to start a business.

Yeah, I hope the best, but, yeah, something like this is not possible. And after three years, he came to my home, we had dinner together, and I was like, how is the business going?

And he told me, like, yeah, it's going great. And I was like, okay, like, how. How much revenue are you making? And I was like, no, I can't tell that, man. I can't tell that. What?

I'm your friend, buddy. Why you cannot tell that to me? And I was like, yeah, I'm making €100,000 in revenue. I'm like, what? €100,000 for one year.

And teachers in the Netherlands, we don't get paid a lot, so it was very hard time as well.

And not in the US either.

Yes. So it was like, maybe I should find something else to make a little bit more money. And I asked him, like, what, 100,000 a year?

He said, no, man, a month. And then it was like, okay, I have a great idea. We invented the portable wine glass.

And it was also with wine gifting that I was teacher at the moment. And in the Netherlands, you get, like a really great gift during Christmas, and then you have holiday. And then that.

That Christmas, I got like a €25 gift card and two bottles of wine that tastes very bad. And also that.

Wait, who. Who gave you bad wine?

The school that I worked for. Yeah, okay. And I was like, we should do this differently. I went to. I was this a very beautiful story. I think I lived in Leide. I.

I worked in Amsterdam. And then there was one moment that I just went for a walk. Okay.

Now I'm thinking about if I want to start a brand and get some inspiration from the city, because it's a very beautiful city. It's like a city of art, like Amsterdam but then smaller. And I took a beer and I just went for a walk with a beer in my hand. I went.

Because sometimes wine people do drink beer.

They do. It's beautiful to have some. Sometimes a wine and sometimes when it's hot, sometimes to drink a beer. So.

So I walked with the beer in the head and I walked and I looked at light and it was very beautiful. It was like a city of art. And I was walking and I was like, oh, sometimes you need to enjoy this beauty with a glass of wine.

And not only with beer on the go. I was walking and then I saw a wine store.

And in front of the wine store, there was like an old man, an old woman, and a younger blonde woman with a big dog. And I was standing there to look at the wine store to get some inspiration.

I was looking and I was standing there too long and it got a little bit awkward. They were like, why you were standing there with your brio in your hand?

Who's this creepy guy?

Exactly, exactly. And I was like, oh, a nice store. I'm also in Dubai. I'm a sommelier. And then the woman was making a joke and she told me like a sommelier and that.

That is what you're saying with a beer in your hand. And she was laughing and I was like, okay, it got more awkward.

And then I walked away and I thought, oh, woman, you should know what I was thinking the whole. I was thinking about inventing a portable wine glass and you made that joke. And for me, that was the sign of the universe.

When I came home, I called my business partner, like, hey, man, I got a sign from the universe. I'm gonna invent this product. Are you in or are you out? And he was like, okay, let's do it together.

I love it. So that was how many years ago?

I think three and a half, four years ago. Yeah.

Okay. And so then did that launch the bigger overarching brand Copenhagen or. That was specifically for the VIN voice.

For the old brands, so for everything. Yes. So I knew there were decanters that I didn't need to invent.

I need to only design the gift box and make it a real special gift and also affordable because, yeah, most of the big brands, they're pricing a lot of big charges and yeah, luxurious products doesn't need to be very expensive, in my opinion. And that was also a very big USB from the brand called Pendevent.

So we launched the brand and then on the site, we started with the market research to launch a pre launch community for The Kickstarter invent the product, source the factories and everything. And that took almost three and a half, four years before the customers have the final edition.

That's amazing. The translation of the name Copain de vin is French.

Yes.

What is the translation into English?

It's friend of mine. Yeah, it's friend of mine.

It's funny because I know the word copain and I googled it and it's funny. At first it said boyfriend.

Okay.

So I was like, their business is the boyfriend of mine. But it's a looser translation is friend of wine.

Yes.

Okay. So the brand was born and your focus was on wine gifting and accessories. And I love that it stems back to your crappy teacher gift of sour wine.

Yes.

And the gift card that you got, you're like, we gotta do better than this.

Definitely.

So then you start focusing on gifting and like you said, whether it's decanters and other wine accessories. So then after that is when the idea for the wine glass comes into play after the brand is already born, Is that right?

Yes, exactly.

Okay. And so why a portable wine glass? I told you about me and my struggle when I go somewhere and I hate the glasses that they have.

But tell me a little bit more about the purpose of the Venn voyage and why people should have it now.

Because currently we drink a lot of wine on dinner tables. And I think as a passionate traveler, I think the world is too beautiful just to drink wine on dinner tables.

My business partner went to the Himalayas and on top on the Himalayas to drink a wine, to toast with each other and to have always a good GL wine with you.

Personally, I think it's great because currently I travel a lot and besides my laptop, both a portable speaker, headphones, it's my favorite product because when I go to China, then I drink Chinese wine from a good glass. When I go to France, I always carry a good wine glass with me.

And besides that, it's also very sustainable because worldwide we use 500 billion plastic cups. So with one wine glass, you never have to buy a plastic cup again.

Because you also can use this versatile for drinks, juices, cocktails and even beer.

I love that part of it so much. As someone with a degree in environmental science who lives in California, which is a very tree hugger state, the plastic cups kill me.

So anytime we can get away from that, that is something that I also love that your product solves for. Plus wine does not taste good out of a plastic cup.

Never. Never. Yeah. Stop. What the plastic said yeah.

As you're talking about like the Himalayas and China, because of the portability of this glass and its beautiful container, I'm thinking to like the beach hiking. I've been lucky enough to go to Botswana and be on safari many times. There are so many places where this could go because it's protected, it's small.

You could literally throw it in a backpack because of this wonderful closure.

Yes.

The one that I picked during your Kickstarter campaign is this kind of copper bronze color, which I love. And so here's what also is important, right. There's two things I think that are wonderful about this.

The portability, where you can travel with a high quality glass. But I want to talk about the quality of the glass itself, because as I take it out of this beautiful bronze container, it's very light.

And I think people would think, oh, gosh, is it really going to be durable? But the lightness tells me that we are not messing around with the quality of the glass or the crystal here. So tell me more about that.

Yes. Okay. Yeah. The quality was one of the most important thing because I wanted to invent the best portable wine glass on this planet.

And then I asked also the best phenologist in, I think almost in Europe and in the Netherlands. He won three times. Finalogist of the year, Alessandro Matrone. He is so good that he cannot compete anymore in the Netherlands. Yeah. One too much.

They're like, dude, you need to retire.

Exactly. It's not fair enough. For other phenologists, it's not fair enough. He is like the designer of a wine glass.

And one of the most important thing that also he said, no, we need to have a tin glass. And yeah, I first had a thinner edition, but that was not durable enough for a portable wine glass. Maybe I released it later.

Like for people that really want a tin edition. I love it personally. And then yeah, he was like. And decision maker of the wine glass because he knows the best and he tried many.

We put a lot of effort, time and energy in the research and development. And finally this model came out. Yeah.

I'm very happy with the thickness with the mouth blown crystal and also with the shape for white, rose and red wines.

Beautiful. Yeah. So it is all purpose great for all types of wine. You said mouth blown crystal. That's amazing. Yeah, it's very thin.

And what I'd love, especially knowing that you're a Somme and you used that background to design this glass. People ask me all the time if the glass actually matters. Fine.

Yes.

And of course I have My own thoughts about this, and I'm sure that you do, or we wouldn't be sitting here. So talk to me a little bit about that. Does the glass matter?

Yes, the glass is everything, really. Every time. For me, it was also that what you were saying.

If I come to Airbnbs, to hotels, and I have a great bottle of wine and there is no good wine glass yet the wine doesn't give the same wine experience. So, yeah, for me, it's a no brainer to invest in good wine glasses. And the wine opens differently.

And this is like a versatile wine glass for many types of wine. And some wines are even better in bigger Burgundy wine glasses, and some wines are even better in smaller. Like a really white wines.

Yeah, it's everything a wine glass.

And this has still for being as portable as it is, it has a nice sized bowl at the bottom and then it tapers up to the top. And what we know about that, it's sort of directing aromas towards the nose as we're tasting it.

And then there really is a difference when you take a sip, when you have the thinness of that crystal, I feel like the way that the wine comes from the glass to your mouth is so much more pleasant than when it's like chunky and thick and bulbous. So many of the Airbnb and hotels have. It just slides across your palate when you have thin, beautiful crystal glass. Do you agree?

Beautiful. Beautiful, how we say it. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, yeah. It's so different.

And I think what also make this wine glass special and that you want to carry it everywhere, even if there are wine glasses in some places.

Tell me about the case.

The Venvoj case is the metal case. The metal case. And it's a metal case with inside silicon. And we designed a click and go lock function. And that was a really challenging part.

It's a new invention in an invention. So you twist it, it clicks and it's locked.

And it's not like a screw cap, like from a bottle that you need to twist it like twice or for the third time with a half twist. It's locked.

It is, yeah. Just half twist. And there's like a little indentation that you use to line it up right when you're gonna close it.

Exactly. Your glasses don't break during traveling.

Oh, my gosh. Amazing. Amazing. I have been waiting like decades for someone to do this.

So I want to go back to what you were talking about just with the business side. Right. So coming from being a teacher and then you had your friend who was an entrepreneur who kind of inspired you when he told you how much he.

Was making a month.

And you. I didn't have the skills. I didn't really have the knowledge to like start a business. Yet here you are. And it's been a long journey.

But what have you learned along the way? Or how did you gain those skills to make this a success? Because obviously it's been very successful already.

Thank you for those beautiful words. Yes, it was a journey for me. It was like, okay, I'm going all in. I read a lot of books and I developed my character myself.

So really focused on personal development. I went to a monastery in Thailand as well to learn more about meditation, mind control, so I could focus more, no distractions.

I went there like for 10 days. I retreat. Those kind of self development I integrate to make myself a better entrepreneur.

Also, the thing that I really learned the most is that you really need to take care of yourself so you can take care of the business. In the beginning years, I really was. I woke up and it was like, okay, working on the business, working on the business.

And I forgot myself or I forgot to eat healthy. Now it's different. So first I just walk, I just meditate, listen to podcasts, exercise, and then I start my day with working.

And that really helped me a lot because, yeah, when the business is getting bigger, you get more problems, so you need to handle those problems better. And now when there are big problems, yeah, I can handle it. And it doesn't affect my, like, my stress level.

Yeah. As a small business owner myself, much smaller than yours, but I can still relate to that.

How it's easy to dive all in when so excited and we're so committed and then we lose sight of ourselves, our health, our wellbeing, our mindset, and then you're not serving anyone.

Exactly.

Successful.

Exactly. Yeah.

So it's a great message for our listeners too, who may either be. Whether they're business owners or working for someone else, but workaholics or for people.

And I know there's a lot of people listening who have that idea, who are getting ready to follow their dream, their inspiration, turn it into reality. It's a good reminder that you've got to take care of yourself first so that you can be successful as an entrepreneur.

Yeah. Then you can take care of the business, but first yourself. Yeah, that's what I learned the most.

So in the very first month of the Kickstarter campaign, when you had backers like me find you and say, I'm Going to pledge this much money to support the project. How much did you raise in the very first month?

Almost €200,000. We were a favorite in Kickstarter as well. And we raised yeah, almost 200k in one month. And that was excluding shipping.

I would say that's pretty successful for the first month. Why do you think the reception was so positive?

First we had really a great plan. So we invested in a plan as well, in a course and they taught us everything. And that was from the beginning we started. Yeah. With the Persona.

So who really loves this product? And with the Persona we made a landing page. Yeah, you. Me. Me.

I am your ideal person.

Yeah, I think. Yeah, exactly.

We described you in the Persona document and then we made a landing page just to see if there's a market for it, if people want to leave their email address and be part of the pre launch community. And then we created ads. We created ads to just.

Which is, I think how you got me. It was probably an Instagram ad, how I felt.

Yeah, exactly. Generates traffic from like social media to the landing page so people can leave their email address. And we build like a big pre launch community.

It was like, okay, this is really what the customer wants. So we need to integrate that kind of future of this kind of things in the product so we have the best product for the customer.

So after 3,000 surveys we adjusted the product and then look for factories and try to make the final prototype to a product. And we didn't stop, we didn't stop until we had the real great product that you are really proud of.

To be a backer and yeah, to be like really a fan or so. For me it was like, no, I'm not going to stop. Even if I have almost a good product, it's not enough.

I need to have the best product possible that will be on the market and yeah, everything together, I think that's the. And also of course the demand problem, the wine problem and the travel problem, we solve. It's sustainable. It's a really great original gift.

So the order value was really high. Not only, yeah, people are not buying just for themselves, but also to buy as a gift and altogether I think that's why we have chosen this favorite.

And also the amount we.

You really took the time to gauge the interest. Right. With your landing page and then your surveys.

And so I think of Shark Tank and all of these shows where they talk about the products that are the most successful. They feel a need.

Yeah.

And I think you guys definitely identified that and then came up with the best possible product you could to fill that need. And that's so exciting. So where are you now in the process? You're trying to grow, you're trying to scale like what's next in.

In the business for this?

Yes. So we finally, every Christmas we do great business with our gifts and our like Canters, corkscrew and premium gift boxes.

And we started our business in the Netherlands and Belgium. Every Christmas we sell out because the demand on Christmas for unique original wine gifts is very high.

And in the first year, we didn't even reach December. In the second year, we didn't even reach Christmas with five times more inventory. And that's a very small market.

In the Netherlands, 18 million people in Belgium, the demand for our product and the brand is very high. And that's not Venn Voyage with Van Voyage, we just delivered to our Kickstarter backers like you. So I have the feedback now.

People love the product, but we needed to improve some parts and we did that now. So we have a real scalable product that is validated by the backers.

And now it's time to scale the business because we want to make more wine lovers happy and we want to make really special gifts for everyone. And last month our patent approved in the US So after two and a half years, we have patents and it was the last day possible.

On the last day possible.

On the last day possible. Yeah. So it was so amazing. Our lawyer called us from the U.S.

okay, I saw that you launched this time with your registered design in Europe and now you have have four days left. And my business partner was in India. He was with his girlfriend and his girlfriend got sick and she was with her in the hospital. So very bad.

And the last day I was like, okay, we need to decide now for the pattern, otherwise it's not possible. I called him from the Netherlands. He was in the hospital. I was like, man, we need to decide what we are going to do with the patterns.

We need to decide now. Man, I cannot decide. I'm here at the hospital with my girlfriend and I'm like, no, man, we cannot let this chance go away. Okay, let's do it.

Let's do it. Okay. Okay, let's do it. And then. Yeah, we finally did it. And last month, this month it approves after two and a half years of the application.

That's amazing. Congratulations. I know it's not easy to get.

No.

So now that you have the patent in the US you're looking to grow and to scale. Are you looking for investors in this product?

Yes, currently. Yeah, currently we are looking for investors. We see that demand is way too high. Yeah, it's a luxurious problem, I think.

So we really want to enjoy all the opportunities right now because we probably put so much time and effort in the business the last four years. Now it's time to make revenue out of it. So an investor will help to solve the problem of inventory.

I think this is the biggest bottleneck inventory and stock management. And if we have an investor, we could really produce a lot of products and then also lower the cost.

So yeah, that will be a great solution if someone is interested. Always open to heard the story and to look for a collaboration.

Yeah, of course. I'm going to share the links to Co Pandavan and Voyage in the show notes so our listeners know how to find you.

But as far as investing, specifically, what is the best way for people to reach out to you to learn more about that opportunity?

So if you could also put the email there as well. Infoopendeven.com and mail like. Okay.

I'm also interested to hear more about the opportunity to invest because yeah, if you invest in the company, we want to raise capital in exchange for equity. So you can.

Okay, Sharks. I'm looking for $200,000 in return for 10% of company. You mean that?

Exactly that. You also.

Do you guys have Shark Tank? Do you guys watch?

Yeah, definitely. Yeah, definitely. To learn as well. Yeah, exactly that. So if you want to know more about the vision.

Because I really want to make the engraving to another level. So I'm also working with partners. We are automated everything and next year we start also with the engraving.

So if people tell me more about that.

Yes, I have here also sample. This is the name.

Oh, I love that you're talking about engraving on the outer. On the outer container.

Also on the wine glass, on the outer. Corkscrews, decanters. And if you go to our webshop, you place your name, it will be engraved in the case, in the wine glass, whatever you want.

And then it automatically goes to a fulfillment. The order.

They see it, they engrave it, they polish it, they pack it in and they ship it and everything will be finished and shipped within three work days in the Netherlands and within five work days in Europe.

That is impressive.

If I really mastered this process in Europe, I want to scale it in the us.

Wow.

Okay, talk to me about pricing because I know through Kickstarter it was different with the campaign and being a backer as far as what I essentially paid. But what is some general pricing that people should expect when purchasing these?

Yes, currently we are not for sale just for you, for your listeners. We make special discount and offer.

So if you are listening, you are interested in the Van Voyage wine case and glass, then please also email@infoapendevan.com for you. We make the special backer price. It's six.

Oh, my gosh. Thank you.

69 Euros. And then the sales price will be an introduction price of 79 for two wine glasses, two wine cases, gift box and also a polish cloth.

It shouldn't be even more expensive, but maybe if we really scale and we can get the production cost low, we keep it at 74 and the normal regular price is €79. Euros. Exactly. Yeah.

Okay. Wow. Thank you for that.

We actually hadn't even talked about this ahead of time, so thank you for making it available to my listeners because I think they're going to want to get their hands on it. So. So that's very kind of you. And I think that pricing is great.

I have to say, when mine arrived, just your packaging alone, the box that it's in, the polishing cloth, I don't wanna give away all the secrets of what was in there.

Plus, I know it might change over time, but I just have to say, overall, the presentation of how they arrived, I can see how gifting is a big focus of your company because if someone sent this to me just in unboxing it alone, I would be so excited and impressed. And then once I knew what it was and how wonderful it was, I would be even more excited. Nice job on all of that.

No detail has been missed in the packaging.

Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate your words.

Yeah, we've waited long enough. I think it's time to put these glasses to the test. Are you ready to do a little tasting?

Sure.

It is 7:23am My time here, so I think it's okay.

Great way to start your day. Great way. Great way.

So we both pulled Riesling today and I just happened to have this in My wine fridge. While I get this open, tell me a little bit about what you're gonna be sipping. In our sip Spotlight today.

I have a Riesling from the Elsas. It's Andre Stubor. And honestly, I didn't have this wine before. It's just a normal, regular wine, not too fancy.

And as a sommelier, when I drink the wine normally, then I'm also going to study the wine. That's how I learned wine. So when I open the bottle, I learn more about the vineyard, the winemaker, and also the area. And now I have a Riesling.

And what about you?

All right, let me pop my co. That was a real sound, people.

Lovely.

Not a sound effect.

The sound of freedom.

That was real.

The sound of freedom.

The sound of freedom. Be free. Oh, my God. I love that. I'm gonna use that, Roman. I love that.

But Smith Madrone is a very small, family owned win that is neighbors with Pride Mountain Vineyards, where I work on Spring Mountain. This is literally five minutes away. They're very small.

They make beautiful wines, and they're one of the few producers in Napa Valley that make Riesling. There's not a whole lot of it out here, of course. We have a ton of Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc and even more Viognier.

But Riesling is pretty rare in this area where I live, yet I love to drink it. So I'm so excited to taste this beautiful.

I think your wine. I want to make change.

I would love to have Riesing from Alsace. Well, cheers.

Cheers.

Cheers.

Cheers. Amazing to be here.

Yep. I do love how that glass just directs those beautiful aromatics right to my schnoz. As we say, beautiful wine, beautiful glass.

I'm a happy girl right now.

Amazing. What a morning. What a morning.

Whoa. My. My taste buds are just exploding right now, and it's really. I just have to talk about the glass for a minute because of the lightness of it.

It's so funny the way I'm holding it. I'm even holding it very, like, delicately with my pinky out. It just feels very crystally and exquisite. I don't know.

It's a lot nicer than the regular stemless glasses that I drink out of most days.

And it's interesting because even though it's a California Riesling, hopefully I would still, in a blind tasting, be able to get that initial marker for Riesling, which is that sort of petrol note.

Yeah, yeah.

Love it. Love in California.

Okay.

How's your wine? Tell me about your wine.

Honestly, it's not that great. I don't have the same experience you do, so I'm sitting here a little jealous. It's just not too many acidity.

It's like a little bit apple, a little mineral, but it's. Yeah, it doesn't say a lot, if I'm honest. I bought it like it's the sales price here in one of the biggest wine and liquor stores. It was €12.

But, yeah, it's not worth even seven or eight euros. It's. It's not good.

All right, we won't t that producer, but we will tag in the episode Smith Madrone because this is beautiful. Is yours totally dry? Off dry? Where would you put it on the dryness spectrum?

Totally dry? Yeah.

This I'd say is probably off dry. There's maybe a tiny hint of sweetness or residual sugar in there, but barely noticeable. And, yeah, very appley.

I don't drink enough Riesling, and I think it's just. I drink a lot of California wine, so I love Viognier. That's my go to white. And every time I have Riesing, I'm like, I need to be drinking more of it.

Whether it's from California, Alsace, of course, Germany. Yeah, I would love your thoughts.

Just generally speaking, not the wine drinker asked you, what's going to be the biggest difference between a California expression of Riesling versus Alsace? What would you say would be some of the general things that they should expect? As far as differences, I'm going to.

Be honest, I'm very familiar with Riesling in Germany.

Now I want to get more familiar with the Riesling in the Elsas, but I'm not familiar with the Riesling in the US So I think you should tell me more about it.

From what I know, generalizing, I think just climate wise, we're California, we're warm, we're sun, we're uv, especially compared to Alsace, which I think more cool climate.

So for me, I think if we were lucky enough to be side by side with each other, and hopefully that happens one day and we can drink wine together in person. For me, if we were tasting these side by side, I would would expect the Alsace to be a little bit lighter and brighter.

As far as freshness and acidity because of the cooler growing season. And then with California, I would expect it to be what I call sunshine in the glass. So richer, probably higher. Alcohol is typically the trend.

What's the alcohol on yours?

It's a 12 and a half.

Yeah, this is definitely gonna be higher than that. Here we go. 13 point. Oh, 13.3. So just a little bit higher, but.

But 13.3 is pretty low for a California wine, so perhaps they're making this a little bit more in the European style and picking other times, lower bricks. But this is beautiful. I can't wait to enjoy this at the end of my workday today.

Amazing.

Do you have a favorite food pairing with Riesling?

Yeah, I always do fish. Like, just white fish. Not too much like a sauce or just like a white fish. A little bit seasoning and then Riesling. I love it. What about you?

Beautiful. I'll definitely have some fish for dinner. I actually have some beautiful Copper river salmon in my freezer right now from my friend Sina at Sina C.

It's Alaskan wild dish. I had her on the podcast about a month ago, and her husband is a fisherman in Alaska.

So I've got some beautiful Copper river salmon filets, and then I also have these beautiful salmon, like a patty that she made that has a little bit of vegetable in it that might be really delicious with this tonight, so I'm gonna have to try.

I'm jealous.

Oh, cool. I have to tell you, this is actually the first time I'm using the glasses.

I just have been admiring them and really excited to talk about them with you. And now that I've christened them, I can't wait to travel with them and take them on my next adventure. But it's really a beautiful.

And how is the drinking experience?

I couldn't talk because I was drinking. It's lovely. Really beautiful. What I was talking about with thinner crystal, where it literally just slides across your palette seamlessly.

It's just really stunning. Congratulations.

Thank you. Thank you.

I can't wait for our listeners to get our hands on these and visit your website and learn more about it.

The last question that I had, you talked about sustainability and obviously how this replaces the need for plastic, which, again, makes my heart so happy. But I also believe that you have another sustainability initiative when it comes to trees.

Yes.

Can you tell me more about that?

Yes. So for us, for the brand, sustainability is very important.

It's for every purchase, we place a tree, and it will be nice if in the future we can Place like a vine somewhere. That will be great. And another thing is.

That's cool.

Yeah, right? Yeah. So that's a great, great vision for in the future.

So we have the inlay will be very luxurious paper, so it doesn't affect the gifting experience, but it will be 100% recyclable paper.

I love it. I love it. Again, it makes me so happy and it's so important. I can't wait to also later today try my own wine.

My Solevato Sangiovese out of this glass.

Gonna be. Let me know.

Really fun. Yeah. And we do the same thing. So when we ship our wine and we can ship to most states in the US we have all pulp.

Recycled pulp paper is our wine shippers. And even the tissue that we wrap our wine bottles in is compostable.

Perfect.

And then our bottle that we chose specifically because it's light. So for carbon footprint, you know, a lot of wineries are moving away from the heavy bottle, which increases that footprint for transfer.

And so we have a very light bottle. And we also do no foil, no capsule.

Okay. Yeah. Beautiful.

As beautiful as they can be for.

The packaging, but I love it as well. Without.

I'll get some Solevato in your hands so you can try it.

Yeah.

Awesome. Roman, is there anything that we haven't talked about that you want to make sure our listeners know before we say goodbye?

I think we talked a lot about the brand, and I'm happy that I was invited here. My first podcast. I'm happy that you're listening, and I hope you will like the product and the brand.

Yeah. Well, you did great.

Congrats not only on your awesome first podcast experience, but congratulations on your business, on becoming an entrepreneur, and on finding a solution for a very important need for a lot of us wine drinkers out there. Thank you.

Yes. You're welcome. You're welcome.

Cheers.

Cheers. Sante. Cheers.

So, so cool. I want to thank Roman for his time and for sharing his story and.

And hopefully a little bit of inspiration with you if there's an idea that you're sitting on. And I'm so grateful that he's making the Vin Voyage glasses available to my listeners before they actually hit the market.

So if you are interested in purchasing the glasses or would like to talk with him about collaboration and potentially investing as they look to grow the opportunity. The email is the same for both of those things and it's just infopandevin. So copain is C o p D A I n D E V I n the boyfriend of wine.

Actually friend of wine.

So send an email and make sure that you tell him that you heard about him on Sip with Nikki and I'm so excited for you to get connected with him with maybe a future opportunity. But most importantly, with these awesome glasses, I'm like, ooh, where can I go? Where can I take these? I think the beach would be very cool.

Of course, our 100% Sangiovese from the Dry Creek Valley and then our single barrel first ever super Tuscan inspired blend called called Fortunato which is Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon and petite Syrah.

Visit solovatowines.com the link is in the show notes and I can ship to most states in the US and make sure that you use the code podlistener for 10% off your purchase. Solovato is Italian for joyful and uplifted and that's how I feel crafting not only the wine but this podcast for all of you.

And by purchasing my delicious wine that Michael and I make together, you are supporting a small family owned business. Each bottle is hand numbered and as you heard, sustainably packaged and shipped to you and I can't wait for you to try it.

They're both delicious and will drink beautifully in these Vin Voyage glasses. Check out De Vin on Instagram and while you're there check out my Instagram and follow me at Nikki Lamberti.

On both theirs and my Instagram you can actually see some footage of the glasses and get a feel for what they look like in all of their gorgeous glory and I can't wait for you to get your hands on them. Whatever you do between now and next week, I hope that you sip well.