Q&A With VineDication’s Founder

I’ve recently came across a pretty cool wine website called VineDication! They’re an online retailer/ wine club hybrid dedicated to curating hidden gem wines from Virginia, and all over the world, that are tough to find outside of their own wineries. I had a chance to virtually connect with founder Nicole Columbo and learn more about her experience launching VineDication. 

What I loved about Nicole’s story is that she, similar to me, is paving her own way through the wine industry with her venture! I loved hearing from someone who took a risk, followed her passion and is thriving!  Check out our Q&A below:

How did you get your start in the wine industry? 

VineDication was my start into the wine industry.

I did a lot of research on where to find VA wines online and didn’t see very many options except for going to the wineries themselves. Very few wineries could be found on other platforms, and I started studying more about wine (already had a lot of exposure to wine already since it is my drink of choice).

 It's a huge accomplishment to start your own business! How did you all start VineDication? 

First, thank you! VineDication started from me belonging to a lot of wine clubs that offered verity wines but they were mediocre at best, and none really did what I wanted them to do. I started to notice that I never got wines from places like VA, Texas, Greece, etc. So, I started to write down my thoughts, which turned into a business plan, which turned into VineDication! However, VineDication is far off from where I want it to be, but we are slowly getting there.

What has been you biggest challenge as a wine company startup?

Getting the technology for what I envision VineDication being. Websites can be very tricky and time consuming. Also getting the knowledge about VineDication out. We were not prepared when COVID hit and had not done much marketing, so our intent was not to launch yet but the situation drove us do to so early. 

What has been the most rewarding part of entering the wine industry? What advice would you give you someone getting started in it? 

The relationships, the wine industry has such friendly people willing to help and guide new businesses. It is definitely a tight group of great people! My advice is build relationships!

What is your process for vetting which wines you'll offer? 

We like to taste all the wines we will offer, if the wine is not up to our standard we will not sell it to a customer (lucky for us VA has sooo many amazing wines).

What Virginia wines do you currently carry?

• Narmada 

• Barrel Oak

• Gray Ghost

• Bozzo (will have them up soon)

• Tarara

• Fabbioli 

• Potomac Point 

• Effingham

• Pearmund

• Vint Hill

• Lake Anna

• Glass House

• Chestnut Oak

• Hiddencroft 

• Water Creeks Edge

• Knight’s Gambit 

• Cave Ridge

**** we plan to try to add a new VA winery every to every other month

In your opinion, what makes Virginia wines unique? 

It is unique because it is still a hidden gem for wine. The soil and climate here is great for producing so many grapes but VA wines just haven’t been marketed to the rest of the world as they should.

What’s next for VineDication?

Within the next few weeks: we will be launching a quiz which gives users a fun personality profile to link with their wine tastes, and recommends wines they might like. It is also used for us to help select wines for the club members

Within the next month: we will be producing and selling candles made from wine bottles that are wine-scented (we have already partnered with one Italian winery and will be the only seller in the U.S to date) 

Within the next month to two months: we will start offering hidden gems wines from Italy

Within the next two to six months: we will start offering hidden gem wines from other states and countries 

Within the next 6 months: Club members will be able to view their past purchases with the wine detail cards, and rate their wines on their website profile which will help tailor their shipments to their tastes better. 

Within the next year (hopefully): we will offer the club members the ability to see a video of the wine maker or owner (or someone that works for the winery) giving them a tasting through their profile, giving the true at home wine tasting experience

Within the next year (maybe longer): starting our own wine line and hopefully vineyard!

I had so much fun connecting with Nicole, and I’m looking forward to seeing VineDication grow. Definitely a company to watch! To keep up with all of their the latest deals and offerings, follow them on Instagram!

Cheers winos!