Graham’s Port Pours into Web3 with NFT Collection

Credit: Graham's Port

Graham’s Port, a wine company founded in 1820, is officially entering Web3 with a non-fungible token collection. The 50 NFTs will pay homage to two of the company’s vintage ports: the 1970 port which signifies the year the Symington family acquired the company and the 2020 port, which celebrates 50 years of stewardship.

Here are the highlights of the set:

  • The NFTs come with special cases that contain ports from both years
  • 44 of the cases will be sold at Graham’s Lodge in Portugal, starting on July 24th
  • Five of the remaining cases will be sold on the WineChain Web3 platform
  • The last case will be auctioned at Golden Vines, with proceeds to go to charity

Each of the 44 cases will have IRL rewards, including free guided tours and wine tastings at Graham’s Lodge as well as allowlist opportunities for the next NFT drop. Holders of three of the 44 cases will receive an additional perk: a private visit for four to Quinta dos Malvedos, the company’s main estate in Douro Valley. These three cases will cost 3,000 euros each.

The collection comes in partnership with Club dVIN, a collectible wine platform. The cases will have near-field communication devices that confirm authenticity, and owners will be able to tap the devices with their phones to pull up their non-fungible tokens.

Parent Company of Graham’s Port Speaks with Rarity Sniper

To get the full details on the drop, Rarity Sniper reached out to Symington Family Estates, which purchased the Graham’s Port brand 50 years ago. Here are the full, unabridged answers to our questions, which a representative answered:

1. What do you hope to accomplish by using NFTs for this initiative?

We aim to build a relationship over time with those that purchase these rare bottles by offering them unique experiences and benefits beyond the bottles themselves. At the same time, we hope to maximize the visibility of these wines – particularly the bottles of 1970 which are some of the last remaining bottles in our cellars.

We also hope that we can reach a new type of fine wine customer – particularly when we drop the five cases on the fine wine NFT platform WineChain in the coming months.

2. What do you hope the holders of these NFTs will gain from participating in this initiative?

The NFT holders get a digital guarantee of authenticity and provenance should they wish to sell the bottles in the future. In addition, they get a level of access to us as the producer which they otherwise wouldn’t have.

For instance, we will offer all the NFT owners an allocation for one case of the next classic Graham’s Vintage Port release – typically we only produce this wine 2-3 times a decade in the very best years.

For those that purchase the case with the exclusive experience, they will be given access to our principal estate in the Douro Valley and enjoy a day trip to winery, vineyards and house. This is particularly special as the estate is not open to the public.

3. Is there anything else you’d like to add?

This is the first time that we have released wine with an NFT and we’re looking forward to seeing the response. We believe that this technology has the potential to bring us closer to our key customers and build a closer relationship with them over time.

Alcohol Companies Bet on Web3

NFT has proven an intriguing technology for many industries, and that is true for the alcohol industry as well. Here at Rarity Sniper, we have covered many stories in the past two years of companies selling wine or spirits entering Web3. Here are some of our best.

First, about a month ago, Sammy Hagar and Guy Fieri shook up the NFT space with a new tequila non-fungible token loyalty program. The new initiative focuses around the two men’s Santo Spirits brand, and there will be sweepstakes where NFT holders can receive prizes.

Next, seven months ago, vodka company Absolut rang in the new year with several trademark applications related to non-fungible tokens and the metaverse. The applications specifically concerned virtual clothing, NFT application tokens, trading software, and virtual bars and restaurants.

Lastly, eight months ago, whiskey brand Johnnie Walker partnered with BlockBar, Vayner3, and 88rising to drop an exclusive NFT collection. The NFTs included artwork from Vandy the Pink and featured an actual bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue, priced at $355.

As these stories show, Web3 has become a popular digital home for many alcohol companies. Rarity Sniper has reached out to Graham’s Port for comment on today’s story and will update the article when it responds.

IRL Experiences: An Interesting Use Case for NFTs

While many homegrown NFT teams focus on building games, launching tokens, or providing digital hangouts for their communities, mainstream companies have taken a decidedly different approach to NFTs: attaching IRL products or experiences to the tokens.

The idea is relying on a specific use case of NFTs — to provide authenticity to a collectible in a market when scammers often create duplicates to trick people out of their money. NFTs, then, become a way to make sure that the item is legitimate and contains the assorted perks associated with that item. It’s the reason Kevin O’Leary, of Shark Tank fame, once said that NFTs could be bigger than Bitcoin.

At Rarity Sniper, some of the IRL experiences or products we’ve seen companies attach to their NFTs include:

  • Guided tours
  • Bottles of liquor
  • Clothing items
  • Access to IRL token-gated events

Some NFT companies have gone down this road as well, the most notable being Yuga Labs, which is known for putting on its token-gated ApeFest every year. As the market matures, we’ll likely see more interesting use cases for NFT technology, encouraging wider adoption.