Juxtaposing two worlds as far apart as the wine sector and the NFT sector would seem, at first glance, a gamble even too extreme.
We shall see, however, these two realities have much in common, much to share; finding out how it is possible to reconcile them may help to improve both sectors.
By way of spoiler, we can already announce that one of the goals of this accession of the wine world to the NFT world is related primarily to safety.
The wine sector, like all sectors where transactions in valuable and valuable products take place, has always been gripped by what can be described as outright “copyright fakes” passed off as authentic products.
Second, it is also possible here to increase brand extension by generating higher revenues.
Benefits of NFTs in the wine industry
As already seen in the introduction, the collaboration that the wine sector has undertaken with the NFT sector, thanks to the foresight of some investors, is mainly related to the fight against counterfeiting.
One of the problems that has always gripped this sector, unfortunately also because of the ease with which it can be done, is the tampering with the various stages of wine production that can be passed off as what they are not.
This leads to the finished production of wines presented as original and from renowned wineries, all of which is done entirely outside legal limits and unfortunately difficult to prosecute.
The European Union has, in fact, evaded a report regarding intellectual property to survey what is the actual damage of the counterfeit market to the entire art and production system.
The report recites a net of $3.18 billion per year just dealing with the wine sector.
The damage to major wineries is severe as it is estimated that 20 percent of all wine bottles in circulation have been marketed under false labels and are therefore to be considered fakes.
As leading experts advise, the first step is to become more cautious and carefully check all stages of production of the bottle to make sure that it is indeed authentic.
And that is where NFT technology comes in.
The assurance that the blockchain authentication and registration technology enabled by NFTs is extremely useful, not to say vital, in this environment that often struggles even to be able to prove the authenticity of wines actually produced by registered entrepreneurs.
The real-time monitoring of wine production that is expected with the use of NFT technology can be the ultimate checkmate to counterfeiting.
Indeed, Louis-Michel Liger-Belair, famous entrepreneur and owner of Domain du Comte Liger-Belair in Burgundy, has declared his willingness and complete decision in NFT technology as the most powerful means to fight counterfeiting.
Not just words for him, Liger Belair has, in fact, put his entire 2020 vintage production on Wokenwine, a platform for selling wines linked to NFT technology.
This is because Wokenwine sees NFT technology not only as an unprecedented guarantee against any tampering with quality, but also as a potentially attractive opportunity for any producer who wants to increase their sales.
The whole NFT sphere is, in fact, being transferred within the wine world, and it is here that projects never seen before within this sector begin to emerge.
Projects such as the organization of online auctions without intermediaries to refer to irrevocably represent a real revolution for this sector that can only benefit in numbers and awareness.
NFT in the wine industry
This is how NFT technology can offer mutual benefits for producers and consumers in the world of fine wines as well.
The Wokenwine platform is online and up and running and stands as the world’s first true community for everything related to the wine industry.
It is undoubtedly a growing trend as many producers are beginning to touch on all the possible benefits offered by this new asset.
Not surprisingly, in January 2022 Penfolds wanted to put 300 units of its Magill Cellar 3 up for sale on BlockBar, another platform that wanted to invest in selling through NFT.
To give an idea of how interested this sector is in NFT technology, suffice it to say that the sale closed in just under 10 hours after launch.
A second great success for this platform, which already in the previous year managed to sell for $130,000 a bottle of Magill Cellar 3 Cabernet Shiraz through NFT.
Conclusions
This is how and why NFT technology succeeds in being a valuable springboard for all those sectors dealing with art that over time have become fossilized in commercial dynamics that have continued to always favor only one part of the market at the expense of the other.
The technology offered by NFT and blockchain turns out to be so easy to apply to various areas that it has managed to reach even the wine sector with completely encouraging results.
The security offered in the fight against counterfeiting is one of the first boosts for this sector, but in fact this is the real plus offered by NFTs for any sector that deals with art, of any aspect and form; here