Of course the idea was created over a glass - ok, a bottle or two - of wine.
Avid winery visitors, who don't need an excuse to venture down little roads to discover a new boutique wine producer, Finestro founders, Rien Wolff and Jasmine De Martin, have been shaping Finestro since 2020.
Both hotel and hospitality leaders, they had witnessed first hand the impact technology and the internet has had on travel, tourism and hospitality over the years. Typically masked by bigger brand power, suddenly, small, independent hotel brands and hospitality venues had a stronger voice and were visible to larger audiences via collective promotion platforms.
Usually responsible for general management of commercial assets, hotels, food and beverage venues and large operational teams, Rien knew there was a way to transfer this experience to the wine world.
"We wanted to create a place for independent and boutique, smaller makers to co-exist in a market without all the price-volume tensions that come with traditional retail," says Rien. "And, we wanted to make a place for consumers to go to as a source of inspiration, a place to discover wines from their own backyard and beyond, that they don’t see every day on the shelf.”
And so, Finestro was created. Launched in 2023, Finestro presents a dedicated digital space for small, premium producers to list products and market their labels, collectively.
With an appreciation for the thousands of boutique producers dotted around wine regions making remarkable and characterful wines, Finestro became a way of opening up the world to people to instantly research, compare and purchase, putting the customer at the centre and bringing them closer to the maker.
"The Finestro difference isn’t about price," Rien explains. "We deliver on authenticity and quality; handmade and hard to find.”
As Finestro evolves, its mission is clear: to connect people who like wine directly with the people who make it.
.
Like what you've read? Sign up to our email newsletter here.
Pouring wine into your inbox in word form, the Finestro email newsletter offers you just a splash more. Featuring wines of delicious distinction, regional highlights and producer news mentions, subscribe to enjoy bite-size Finestro producer partner updates and purchase recommendations.
