Crurated Founder and CEO Alfonso de Gaetano talks virtual cellars and how the modern world of blockchain technology and NFTs work with the traditional world of wine
For the last several years, the wine world has been trying to find its way into the glasses of modern drinkers. As cocktails, spirits, and no-and-low beverages have stepped into the spotlight, wine has fallen into the rearview. But modern technology offers wine fans (past, present and future) new opportunities to explore the vast world of the vine. We sat down with Alfonso de Gaetano, Founder and CEO of Crurated, to learn about how he’s used blockchain technologies, NFTs, and a 3D metaverse to bring oenophiles better wine.
First off, tell me about Crurated? Where did the idea come from?
It starts from passion. Having worked for more than 10 years as an executive at Google, it’s fair to say that I am as passionate about tech as I am about wine, and the two converged with the decision to set up Crurated. I had the desire to create a community of fellow connoisseurs that could come together virtually and physically around the globe to discover, learn and acquire wine from the hands of the best domaines themselves. All while ensuring quality and provenance.
As a collector myself, I struggled with the fact that I was buying bottles in shops or at auction and I had too many experiences where the quality of the wine was below the expectations, and the price paid for them.
I wanted to create a system that adds authenticity and traceability from the moment the bottle leaves the producer’s cellar, adding value for both restaurants that are selling these bottles to their clients, and for private clients that will either enjoy the bottle with their friends or decide to resell to another collector – for a multitude of reasons. Here at Crurated, we see this becoming the industry norm in the future.
Can you break it down into one easy to understand sentence?
Crurated provides users with direct access to new releases from vineyards and distilleries, complimentary storage in our state-of-the-art warehouse facility in Burgundy, along with NFC labels and NFT certification, ensuring the complete history of each bottle is traceable from the moment it is released by the producer.
Whether our members already consider themselves aficionados or are just at the beginning of their journey in building their wine or spirits collection, we have different memberships available extending to a personal wine advisory service, unlimited storage as well as collection previews and priority access.
What is a Metaverse for wine collectors?
Our metaverse is the first step in giving Collectors an immersive, engaging experience, an alternative to a list of wines on a spreadsheet. It offers members the opportunity to ‘see’ and ‘learn’ about all of their bottles purchased in VR and access real-time information about the bottle or the NFT certificate, simply by touching the bottle in their virtual cellar. Future iterations will offer the possibility to converse with experts and producers, immediately bottle and ship new purchases via a specially curated Metaverse shop. This level of personalised experience will set a precedent for what consumers will expect in the future.
The Crurated Metaverse uses some of the most advanced technologies, we’re able to offer our clients instant access to their bottles – at the click of a button via the Crurated App, they can simply click and ship their bottles wherever and whenever they wish. The initial launch in spring will be the first iteration, but development on the next phase of the metaverse has already begun – it’s an ongoing project to ensure we’re constantly improving customers’ journeys by adding new features, expanding existing and finding new ways to embellish the enjoyment of fine-wine.
Who are Crurated’s users?
Most of our clients are young and passionate about Wines, eager to access some of the best producers in the world, but also trust our curation of new rising stars. They are curious, they love to network with like-minded people and eager to learn directly from Producers that we bring to every event that we organize. 70% of our global membership is under 45 years old
With the introduction of the Crurated Metaverse, we were the first to launch an infrastructure fully integrated in blockchain, creating a unique experience that attracts not only those interested in tech, but wine lovers interested in exploring the tech world.
Can you tell me more about the virtual cellar experience and how users will be able to walk guests through their fine-wine collections?
The virtual cellar experience within Crurated’s metaverse is designed to immerse users in a weightless journey, descending past cascading waterfalls onto an ethereal path, with tactile concrete walls guiding them to their own private cellars. Through multi “player” mode, owners can invite guests to join them and observe the virtual sommelier’s expertise, interact with the Crurated AI, and learn more about the bottles’ histories (the wine’s journey from vine to bottle being stored in the NFT).
We are crafting a comprehensive Crurated experience that extends beyond mere bottle display; purchasing new bottles goes beyond receiving a standard email receipt as owners can enjoy an expansive virtual unboxing experience. Following unboxing, they can also choose how to present their bottles, whether showcased in the dedicated cellar Gallery or neatly arranged on the “Infinite Wall,” which embodies Crurated’s virtual rendition of a traditional wine cave.
How do users deepen their knowledge of wine through Crurated? Will you be able to take classes or even explore wine regions and wineries from across the world?
We are a digital-only platform with no physical stores, but we are very aware it’s essential we connect with collectors and producers. To ensure we’re constantly in touch with producers, collectors and potential new members we host events throughout the year, all over the world, including at our Producers vineyards – whether its intimate dinners, larger tours etc, our clients can meet other collectors and producers whilst tasting unique bottles directly from producers’ cellars and learning about the wine and winemakers. We are actively creating new content that will offer members the opportunity to expand their knowledge further.
How does blockchain and NFTs work into all of this?
Blockchain and NFT’s are the backbone of one of the fundamental principles of Crurated, trust. They ensure complete authenticity while telling the story of the provenance of the bottle. Our members can have 100% faith that anything they purchase from us is legitimately what we say it is, the technology is enabling this.
Tell us about how this pairs up with VR headsets?
The Crurated Metaverse is accessed using a VR headset, within their virtual cellars guests will be able to view and interact with the NFT’s and access all of the data and information about the bottle just by touching it.
Artificial Intelligence is all the rage these days. How does Crurated AI work and what makes it unique in a world of more and more AI features?
It’s important to say that Crurated is only starting its AI journey, our objective, through the work we are doing in this space, is to support our clients in their journey to discover and better understand the world of wine. We aim to enhance our client’s experience by having an AI assistant that can assist with any direct requests.
One example of our work towards this objective is that our clients have the possibility to ask any questions about a specific type of wine, vintage, producer, appellation. Our understanding is that with current industry players like open ai or chatgpt, knowledge around the world of wine can be limited.
Our first step in building this AI was to invest in machine learning and train our assistant to understand things like names of French, Italian producers. We had to start from 0 as there was no understanding of what certain domains and grand crus actually meant.
Why did you choose to work with Italian Architect Giovanni Francesco Frascino and what did he bring to the Crurated Metaverse?
We decided to work with Italian Architect Giovanni Francesco Frascino because he is a master in real world spatial design. He is bringing his expertise to this new medium and opted to create something truly new rather than replicating what already exists in the real world of wine.
You also have partnerships with Edmiston and Satopia Travel, how do those partnerships work and what does it give users?
Our partnerships with Edmiston sees us curating unique yachting experiences paired with exclusive wine tastings from some of the world’s most renowned French and Italian producers.
Edmiston clients can enjoy access to some of the world’s most exclusive wines, from never-before-released magnums, enjoy private wine tastings on board or reap the benefits of a curated yachting itinerary with stops at renowned wineries, where some of the world’s greatest winemakers can share their stories.
As well as memberships and exclusive experiences, Edmiston and Crurated clients can also secure top producers’ rarest cuvees prior to market release through fractional barrel sales, where successful bidders can choose their favorite format to have their rare wine, otherwise not available on the market, bottled.
With Satopia Travel, we tailor-make itineraries for wine tours and hosted experiences, which include limited release wines and chef’s table dinners.
We only partner with like-minded companies that have a similar approach with their clients in their respective industries.
What do you see in the future of Crurated?
Curating more exceptional wine and spirit collections. We continue to expand the list of the top producers we work with and will be targeting around 150 top producers in 2024 who will be showcased on our platform. The curation is at the core of what we do – it’s part of our brand DNA. We will only ever offer bottles from incredible producers that we would want to drink ourselves.
We will also be focusing on expanding our spirits offering this year. We hit 4,750 members after being in business for 30 months, and many of them started asking for our recommendations on rare spirits that are difficult to source through traditional channels. We launched Crurated Spirits back in November 2023 and mainly focus on special releases directly from the distilleries we partner with.
Within the Metaverse we’re developing new experiences that focus on three very disruptive technologies: metaverse, blockchain and artificial intelligence. The combination can create a wow factor and enrich the experience for passionate collectors.
For more information, head over to Crurated’s official website.