Blendtique Wine Company: Here's What Happened After Shark Tank
Have you ever excitedly purchased a bottle of wine only to crack it open at home to discover that the taste is just not for you? Blendtique Wine Company set out to solve that problem in a fun and engaging way by creating a product that allows wine lovers to mix a personalized blend from the comfort of their own homes. Founder and sommelier, Billy Dim appeared on "Shark Tank" in front of Barbara Corcoran, Lori Greiner, Kevin O'Leary, Robert Harjavec, and Mark Cuban seeking $200,000 in exchange for 10% equity. Dim wanted to tap into the enthusiasm of avid wine drinkers and give them an opportunity to actually be a part of the creative process. He founded Blendtique Wine Company in 2014 and appeared on Season 8, Episode 19 of Shark Tank in March 2017.
Blendtique Wine Company sends you a kit in the mail that includes a pipette for measuring, an Erlenmeyer flask for blending, an instruction manual, and four half-bottles of single-varietal red wines. These include exceedingly popular cabernet sauvignon wine and contentious merlot, along with syrah and grenache. After swirling and tasting until you find your perfect flavor profile, the percentages of your personal blend can be entered online. You can then order bottles of your unique blend with a personalized label. In addition to facilitating an at-home experience, the company also offers classes and private-label wines that can be specially created for restaurants, businesses, or events.
What happened to Blendtique Wine Company on Shark Tank?
Billy Dim took Kevin O'Leary and Barabara Corocoran through the process of blending their own wine. After a blind taste test with the other Sharks and Corcoran's victory over Mr. Wonderful, everyone got down to business. After two years of being in business, Blendtique had seen around $200,000 in direct-to-consumer sales. Each kit sold for about $100 with a cost per unit of $35. At the time, a full case of customized wine would ring up for $300, or $25 per bottle.
However, as Dim discussed the opportunity to move into providing wine mixing experiences in the hospitality, catering, and cruise ship industries, Mark Cuban felt the initial value proposition was getting muddled. He was the first to say, "I'm out." Robert Herjavec called it quits for the same reason. The fact that only 15% of folks that bought the kit were coming back as repeat customers to buy their own bottle was enough of a reason for Corcoran to take herself out of the race, as well. O'Leary felt the price per bottle was too high, but Lori Greiner decided to throw her hat in. After some back and forth with Dim about equity, Greiner offered a $250,000 loan at 8% interest with a 10% equity stake. It was the perfect blend for Dim, and he accepted the offer.
What happened to Blendtique Wine Company after Shark Tank?
Despite a promising agreement between Lori Greiner and Billy Dim, it appears that the deal did not actually go through. Blendtique is still in business, but their website makes no mention of Greiner, and Blendtique Wine Company is not listed among the "Shark Tank" products she has been involved with on her personal site. Despite the breakdown of the deal, this wouldn't be the last time Greiner took a chance on a wine company. Greiner and the founder of Obvious Wines made a deal on Shark Tank, but that agreement also did not come to fruition.
Dim did continue forward with his vision for Blendtique. In 2016, Celebrity Cruises announced a partnership with Blendtique Wine Company to offer classes on-board their entire fleet. Participants even had the option to receive a bottle of their custom blend while still on board the ship. It appears that the offering is still available on some, but not all, of the Celebrity Cruises ships.
As for the kits that Dim presented on the show, whenever the original episode re-aired, Blendtique would experience a significant bump in sales to the point where their website would crash. Blending kits, custom blends, and bespoke bottles are all still available on Blendtique's website. Standard kits are still about $100, but the prices for ordering custom bottles are now close to $200 more than what was presented on "Shark Tank."
What is next for Blendtique?
Despite having a working website and social media pages, the company has been quite limited in its engagement. As of April 2024, there has been a significant gap in posting. The most recent posts on Facebook were in December 2022 and on Instagram in September 2023. Billy Dim's LinkedIn still shows him as the current chief executive officer and winemaker of Blendtique Wine Company.
The sparse communication could have something to do with Dim's slightly more recent venture — Summer Somewhere Wines — which was founded in mid-2016. Presently, that company's most recent post was in April 2024. The winemaking project is based in the Santa Barbara Valley and began as a passion project between Dim and his wife, Stacey. Summer Somewhere Wines offers both single-varietal and blended reds, whites, oranges, and rosés. According to the website, these bottles are available online, through a membership, and at a tasting room located in Malibu, California.