Vino Veritas

We are Wine 2.0 meets Web 2.0.

In 2006, customers in the United States purchased over 3 billion bottles of wine and for people who want to enjoy their wines in their truest form, many vintages need to be cellared in places with proper climate control and their wines need to be accessible & organized.

We are building a green-tech convergence opportunity that capitalizes on the “Wine 2.0” market.

Today, the “self-storage” market in the United States produces revenues of $22.6 billion annually with a market capitalization of over $220 billion. Climate controlled storage currently is estimated to make up approximately .05% of the 1.6 billion square feet of storage on the market. This market is estimated to expand by 26% over the next 3-5 years based on current construction statistics. A large portion of this market is made up of customers who need to store their wines in a climate controlled space.

The Vino Veritas business model will create highly energy-efficient underground structures with a revenue mix of storage, premium services, private event space rentals, a Sommelier-maintained cellar that members can purchase wines from, and exclusive wine tasting events.

Another aspect of our business model that we are very excited about is our positive community and environmental impacts. With facilities built underground, there is no industrial warehouse footprint. Instead, our facilities will simply have great vineyard style landscaping, and doors that lead back into the mountainside.

Additionally, with every square foot of underground storage we build, we can reduce the market need for comparable above ground storage where the competitions energy requirements can generate up to the equivalent of 4,200lbs of CO2 per month, along with a host of other pollutants that come with high energy consumption facilities.

Larry A. Lee – President/Founder

As an award-winning producer, Mr. Lee has an extensive background in project management, stunts, stunt-coordinating and physical production incorporating a wide range of talents.

He has been responsible for production management of over $5m in film & television projects, and provided stunt services as CEO & President of Action Entertainment International for some of the biggest names in the entertainment business, including NBC, and Endemol (Fear Factor, Against The Odds, America’s Worst Drivers), ABC (Full House), the Walt Disney Company, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and Universal Studios (coordinating live shows).

As a partner at TitanMPG, he served as an integral part of the producing & development team that produced & sold the feature film “Family.”

Mr. Lee is an avid wine collector and enthusiast, to the point of planting his own first vintage of Sangiovese grapes just last year, which he looks forward to vinting.

 

Jon Lawrence - Advisory Board Member

Jon comes from a broad background in project management with experience that ranges from producing independent feature films to oversight of millions of dollars of television and broadband media production for Endemol Entertainment.

At Endemol, he was engaged in the development, production and delivery of all shows within the division and directly responsible for the production oversight over $5m in production annually. In addition, he was directly responsible for the creative & technical development of a broadband/IPTV platform for the company, and for all creative & technical development of the interactive hardware & software used for their interactive television broadcasts.

He has also produced and directed television episodes of The Great Biker Build Off for the Discovery Channel, as well as produced and successfully sold two feature films in 2003 and 2005, respectively.

Additionally, Mr. Lawrence owned and operated a web design boutique for years that included clients such as Paramount Pictures home video. The boutique handled graphic design & animation services that also included managing internationally outsourced programming projects for web-based graphic user interfaces and backend database resources.

Jon brings a global approach to business, technical and creative strategy, a passion for craftsmanship, and a wealth of experience to all of his endeavors and is a particular fan of a well-mellowed bottle of old-vine Zinfandel.

Vino Veritas will be bringing a whole new paradigm to the climate controlled storage business by addressing the following shortcomings in the marketplace:

- Warehouse experience: Concrete walls, plywood doors, chicken-wire & plastic tubs.

Wine enthusiasts the world over talk about and share their experiences when visiting wine caves. We believe that experience should be extended to anyone with wines that need cellaring. The current generation of refrigerated warehouses & storage simply do not and cannot provide this and there are no commercial caves in the US that provide for private client cellaring.

- Tremendous energy use & associated pollution: Commercial HVAC & refrigeration accounts for 25% of all energy usage in the US.

Caves naturally maintain a much lower ambient temperature than above ground structures, dramatically lowering our operating costs and the environmental costs of traditional above-ground storage.

- No integrated asset management: Music lovers have iTunes, Wine lovers will have Vinocera.

With Vinocera you can order delivery straight from your collection to your home, or tell us you're expecting a delivery from a winery. You can request appraisals, or add insurance to a particularly valuable bottle. You can browse our exclusively maintained wine list and add wines you like to your collection. We'll also integrate RFID tags into all your physical assets for security and on-site location tracking. We also already have a database of over 10,000 vintages to be utilized within Vinocera.

Vinocera is Web 2.0 meets Wine 2.0.

Our first facility will open in Southern California in 2008, with the goal of starting construction on at least one new facility each year thereafter.

VIDEO PITCH NOTES:
The still images and video of caves in the presentation are for representational use only. Thank you to our construction partners, Bacchus Caves for providing access to these private caves, and the still images used.
Thanks also to the Production Group in Hollywood for making their green screen stage available to us.
Video shot, composited, & edited by Jon Lawrence

Dramatically reduced operating costs over above-ground facilities.

 

Positive environmental impacts by using cave spoils to help with erosion control and runoff control.

 

Positive community impacts by providing small-footprint, attractive storage as opposed to the standard warehouse boxes that add to urban sprawl.