Our Business
We are wine brokers licensed in the State of California, who provide direct online channels for Wineries to sell all wine and Collectors to sell vintage wine (vintage wine is here defined as red wine at ten years or older and white wine at five years or older) to CA licensed buyers and re-sellers of alcohol.
Product and monies are exchanged directly between buyers and sellers, upon the successful completion of an Auction or Sale process.
Through partnerships with import, export and domestic distribution entities, we are able to offer our services to buyers and sellers worldwide.
Our Help page provides details on how to use our platform and services, and how to contact us for any comments, questions or issues.
Our Customers
Wineries who want to sell all wine directly to licensed buyers.
Collectors who want to sell vintage wine directly to licensed buyers and who want to use our inventorying, appraisal, warehousing, authentication and payment-logistics services.
Licensed buyers who want direct access to the portfolios of great wineries and the collections of the most discerning wine connoisseurs, worldwide.
Our Technology
Our Real Time user-generated online Auction & Sale platform connects buyers and sellers through either a bidding or fixed-price transaction process.
Sellers are able to post their wine and monitor the sale process, and choose a qualified buyer first, before ever parting with their wine.
Buyers are able to view all active worldwide Auctions and Sales in progress at once, and participate in only the ones they choose, from any physical location.
The entire process is simple, efficient and discrete. While buyers and sellers are known to each other only by their screen-names, they are still able to "message" each other, in order to exchange more information regarding the wine, placement, pricing, shipping, etc. Only after a sale is final does the system let each party know of the others' contact information.
Although the buying and selling process is conducted online, our team is always available to assist buyers and sellers in any way needed, at all times.
Our Advantages
Membership to our platform is completely free. Registration takes less than 1 minute.
Sellers use our platform free of charge.
Buyers pay the lowest commission rate of 10% of any wine auction Marketplace, online or otherwise.
Collectors have access to our highly qualified team and Partner Companies for inventorying, appraisal, warehousing, authentication, payment-logistics and shipping services.
Our members are worldwide. This provides a high quality inventory at competitive prices.
Buyers and Sellers remain anonymous throughout the process, till after the completion of a transaction.
The efficiency and scalability of our business model enables us to quickly adapt to changing market and industry conditions, while ensuring that our members experience no disruption in the exceptional end-to-end services we offer.
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Raj Ramamurti Founder & CEO
I have been a wine enthusiast for many years. I combined this with the entrepreneur in me, to start the Wine Societies project. The wine industry is going through a very interesting transition, and the Internet has been significantly influencing it. I believe our company offers Wineries, fine wine Collectors and licensed Buyers an efficient, cost-effective and timely solution to the supply and demand challenges facing the industry today, and in the long term. I attended the University of Pennsylvania, and graduated with a degree in Electrical Engineering from the Moore School and a degree in Entrepreneurship from the Wharton School. In addition to wine and wine culture, my interests include global macroeconomic and monetary policies, music, opera, literature, travel, windsurfing, snowboarding, running, swimming, resistance training, and yoga.
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Lee Goodman Director, Marketing & Business Development
My approach here is informed by my previous involvement within the distribution system. I call for all collectors and wine industry principals to empower themselves by joining this Direct to Trade movement. Additionally, I am appreciative of the many expressions of the arts: literary, visual, and of course, culinary. My love for wine stems from the fact that each bottle has a story, and a life, of its own. Let us be further enabled to listen to these stories, these lives. |
JoAnn Dueno
Director, Marketing & Business Development
With 20 years experience in the Wine Industry, I have worn many hats, starting with the position of Buyer for Restaurants/Clubs, Sales & Marketing for Distributors, Management, Brokering and Consulting. Clearly recognizing the necessity for progression in how wines are moved in the marketplace, Wine Societies, Inc. breaks that glass ceiling of the "3 Tier" system, and it will change how we do business with wineries, retailers and on-premise accounts, nationally and internationally! Very exciting!
Paul Jones
Director, Marketing & Business Development
Paul is a seasoned wine industry professional with recognized expertise in fine and rare wines, market analysis, and collection management.
Paul got started with wine locally in Virgina and expanded internationally from there. Just after college graduation, Paul rolled up his sleeves to work harvest at a family-owned winery where he learned all about the grape-growing and winemaking process. Curious about the wines of the world, he began a formal course of wine study and traveled widely. Back at home, Paul worked for a local wine merchant, continuing to explore the French and Italian wines and deepening his taste for European grapes.
Lured by the California wine culture, Paul moved to San Francisco to sell fine wines for Premier Cru where he developed an extensive network of buyers and sellers across the world and helped the company maintain a dominant position in fine wine trading markets. Next, Paul set out to broaden his study of wine through the WSET diploma program and founded 23 Brix, a consultancy and agent to fine and rare wine collectors. Through 23 Brix, Paul married economics with portfolio theory in servicing collectors of investment-grade wine, providing advice based on analyses of their collections and market opportunities. Paul managed sales and purchasing on his clients' behalf which solidified his position in global fine and rare markets. To provide a full-service experience, Paul co-founded the Healdsburg Wine Alliance and began offering wine-related events and tutored tastings based on individual and specific needs.
Paul attended the University of Virginia and graduated with degrees in Anthropology and Sociology. He holds a certificate degree in business administration from U.C. Berkeley. In addition to the obvious, Paul's interests include gourmet cooking, pre-prohibition era cocktails, cinematography, and American literature.
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Christian Lane Director, Marketing & Business Development
Once, I didn't know what mystified me about wine. I'm still collecting answers and may be able to explain - in about 50 years! The process of moving vinifera to the dinner table has defined my life. Here is an opportunity to question the status quo and embrace a whole new way of being. I encourage you to stop camouflaging spending as marketing. Let this new modality free up capital and destroy the borders of wine choice. |
