BlockBar Opens Up NFT Market To Artisanal Wines And Spirits

Dov and Samuel Falic, respectively the CEO and president of Blockbar.

The e-commerce drinks marketplace, BlockBar, hopes to attract niche wine and spirits producers in the next 12 months as it pivots a little from portfolio players like Pernod Ricard, Diageo, and William Grant & Sons and their ultra-premium lines.

The platform’s offerings start at around $200—with many items costing much more. Earlier this year, the ultra-aged Avión Lucky Liquid from House of Tequila (Pernod Ricard) was available for $495 and BlockBar currently has a Benromach 50-years-old sherry cask Scotch for $21,500.

Now, small-production wine and spirits houses, where storytelling, craftsmanship, and novel techniques can engage consumers, will get a look in. BlockBar—an NFT (non-fungible token) direct-to-consumer platform—predicts they will pique the interest of younger shoppers looking for something out of the ordinary.

Blockbar is just three years old. It was founded during the pandemic in 2021 by cousins Dov and Samuel Falic, respectively CEO and president. Both are the next generation of the billionaire Florida-based Falic family.

The diversified Falic Group has deep roots in duty-free retail through its 250-store Duty Free Americas operation and also owns Paneco, the largest e-commerce delivery platform for wine and spirits in Singapore and Israel. Dov Falic’s father, Leon, is chairman of BlockBar.

The move to small producers is interesting considering they will have a limited range of high-end products versus their bigger rivals. Dov Falic told me: “While we continue to partner with world-renowned producers we saw a gap in the market to work with smaller, independent wineries and distilleries. We are introducing new offerings to our Gen Z and Millennial audiences who are looking for something undiscovered that their friends don’t have access to.

“These consumers are eager to discover unique, independent producers not available in traditional retail channels. For our artisanal releases, our model remains unchanged: purchasing an NFT which represents ownership of the physical bottles. Owners can choose to store, gift, sell, or redeem their NFTs for the physical bottles, which can be shipped worldwide.”

BlockBar’s COO Jamie Ritchie, tapped from Sotheby’s auction house where he was head of wine, added: “I have had the incredible opportunity to travel the world, discovering and tasting some of the highest quality wines and spirits from artisanal producers. These are wineries and distilleries that strive for the highest quality. Now, we are bringing these independent producers to BlockBar.”

Wines from Famille Isabel Ferrando at Domaine Saint Préfert are now on the BlockBar platform.

The artisanal campaign is launching with the mother-and-daughter duo behind winemaker Famille Isabel Ferrando at Domaine Saint Préfert in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, as well as Armagnac Laubade, and Mezcal Amarás. Laubade’s 11 vintages on the site include a 1999, 1994, 1944, and 1934.

BlockBar says that it can amplify the high-quality offerings of small houses like these to audiences they may not have had the opportunity to reach before. Dov Falic added: “I can’t give away too much, but this is just the beginning of what artisanal releases will go live on BlockBar in the future.”

An artisanal membership club is also going live though BlockBar did not say how many users might join in the first year. Members get early access to bottles and casks from niche producers. Sam Falic said: “As membership grows, we plan to host tasting events with our producers in cities worldwide. It’s difficult to predict exact numbers, but feedback from our community suggests strong interest.”

On the value of NFTs in the wine and spirits industry, he added: “They address significant challenges by providing transparency and traceability for consumers. Blockchain provides guaranteed provenance, authenticity, and condition, as well as proof of ownership for physical wine and spirits bottles. You can always trace ownership back to the producer.”