Vint vs Vinovest [2024]

Buying wine as an investment might sound crazy at first. After all, the average bottle costs just $13.39.

But fine wine costs a lot more than that. It also tends to increase in value over time. That’s why fine wine and spirits have become an attractive alternative investment.

Vint and Vinovest are investment platforms that make it easier to get started as a wine and spirit investor. 

So, which platform is better? Below, I’ll walk you through the details of the Vint vs Vinovest debate. 

Vint vs Vinovest Overview

There’s an obvious similarity in the Vint vs Vinovest conversation: Both companies help you invest in wine and spirits. 

Does that mean they’re basically the same? Not at all! In fact, it’s the key differences that make the Vinovest vs Vint debate so fascinating.

Vint is all about buying shares of a managed portfolio. That means you’re making fractionalized investments in collections of wine and spirits.

Vinovest has a completely different model, letting you buy actual bottles and cases that are held in your name. 

Let’s take a closer look at how each side operates in the Vint vs Vinovest debate. 

What is Vint and How Does Vint Work?

Vint is an investment platform that lets you buy into a portfolio of fine wine and spirits. 

With Vint, you’re not purchasing specific bottles or cases. This is a major difference in the Vint vs Vinovest discussion. Vint manages “collections” of wine or liquor – and as an investor, you can buy shares of these collections.

In general, Vint’s strategy has been working. Check out all the company has accomplished since it began operations in 2019:

• Over 14,000 assets under management
• More than $10 million invested
• Net annualized returns of 28.7%

How does Vint accomplish this? Probably by employing legit experts in wine and spirits. 

Vint’s team conducts extensive market analysis and research while building their collections. Once the bottles have been purchased, they’re shipped to a secure facility where they’re monitored and insured.

These bottles are basically treated like royalty!

Before “going live” to be purchased by investors, all of Vint’s collections are qualified by the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC). Legit? You better believe it. 

Investing with Vint takes two simple steps:

1. Create an account. Head to the official Vint website and click “Sign up” in the top-right corner. From there, you’ll have to enter some basic information. Once your account is up and running, you can access specific details about the available wine and spirit collections. 
2. Build your portfolio. Vint will show you which wine and spirit collections are available, and you can buy whichever ones you choose. Want to build a balanced portfolio from around the world? That’s probably a good idea. Prefer to focus on wine from a specific region? You can do that, too! With Vint, you’re in command. 

Each collection from Vint has its own share price, but some cost as little as $25. That makes Vint the more accessible option in the Vint vs Vinovest debate.

What happens once you’ve made your purchase? For a while, nothing. Vint generally holds onto its collections for 1 to 10 years. The idea is to wait for the optimal moment to sell. 

But don’t worry. The folks at Vint won’t be sitting on their hands. They’re constantly monitoring the market and scouting out potential buyers. 

Once all or part of a collection is sold, investors get their share of the proceeds. 

What is Vinovest and How Does Vinovest Work?

Like Vint, Vinovest is an investment company that helps people invest in wine and whiskey. 

Unlike Vint, Vinovest lets you buy your own bottles and cases, and if you want, you can even have them sent to your home. So, if you’re looking for a more hands-on experience, then Vinovest is the clear winner of the Vinovest vs Vint debate.

Founded in 2019, Vinovest is a legitimate company with headquarters in Los Angeles. In just a few years, it’s developed a major foothold in the wine industry. It has 1.7 million bottles in custody, and it’s returned $27.5 million in capital to its users.

Want to try out Vinovest? Here are step-by-step instructions for getting involved:

1. Create an account. This is as easy as you’d imagine. Head to the official Vinovest website and click “Get Started.” 
2. Complete a basic questionnaire. You’ll tell Vinovest your investing goals. That way, they can construct a wine-and-whiskey portfolio just for you.
3. Fund your account. Vinovest offers four different tiers for investment. The minimum investment for the lowest tier is $1,000.
4. Have Vinovest create your portfolio. Since this is a “managed” account, Vinovest’s experts and artificial intelligence (AI) will team up to select the cases and bottles that match your goals.
5. Watch the value of your portfolio appreciate (hopefully!). Vinovest will track the estimated value of your fine wines and whiskies. If everything goes according to plan, the total value should increase.

And since you’re the sole owner, you decide what to do with your purchases. Want to keep them in storage? Vinovest will watch over them for you. Prefer to get them sent to your house – where you could even drink them? Go for it! 

*Note: It’s my expert opinion that drinking your assets does not make financial sense. But with Vinovest, you’re free to do it if you want!

You can also buy and sell bottles through Vinovest at any time. They won’t tell you what to do. Vinovest does suggest holding onto your investments for 5 to 10 years. That’s how you’ll increase your odds of seeing a decent return.

Want to learn even more about the platform? Check out this complete Vinovest review. 

And if you like alternative investments, you may also want to look into real estate investing with this Groundfloor review.

Vint vs Vinovest Fees

Pricing is another major difference between the Vint vs Vinovest discussions. 

Vint charges a single “sourcing fee” when you buy into a collection, but it can be hefty. Vinovest’s fees are generally lower, but there are more of them.

I’ll dig into the details below.

Vint Fees 

Vint charges a one-time “sourcing fee” when you first purchase shares in a collection. 

The exact fees vary, but they’ve always landed somewhere between 0% and 35%. That said, there’s no hard limit on the sourcing fee. So, always make sure you double-check before finalizing a purchase.

Luckily, checking the fees with Vint is easy. All you have to do is look at the offering circular, which will tell you the fee for that particular collection. 

Vinovest Fees

Vinovest charges a few different fees:

• A 2.5% buy-side trading fee
• A 1% sell-side trading fee
• A 1.5% annual storage fee
• A management fee between 1.90% and 2.5% (depending on your investment tier)

That means you’ll be paying Vinovest during pretty much every part of the investment process – from the time you buy the bottles to the day you sell them.

Are the fees massive? Not at all – especially when you consider everything Vinovest does for account holders. Remember, the company helps you source the wine, store it, and then sell it to other investors. It’s totally normal for you to have to pay a little for the service.

Vint vs Vinovest Returns

Returns are probably the most important factor in the Vint vs Vinovest conversation. After all, your goal is to make money, right?

Luckily, both platforms provide valuable information that can help you decide which would be more lucrative. 

Vint Returns

Since starting in 2019, Vint has offered clients net annualized returns of 28.7%. Impressive? I’d say so! It makes Vint a likely winner in this portion of the Vint vs Vinovest debate.

Of course, not all Vint investments will see that large of a return. Remember, Vint investors choose which “collections” they’ll buy into, and some collections do better than others.

Still, when the average annual return is so high, you have plenty of reason to be optimistic. 

Vinovest Returns

Unfortunately, Vinovest doesn’t publish average annualized returns. When it comes to transparency, Vint wins this round of the Vinovest vs Vint battle.

But Vinovest does report an important statistic: Over the past 30 years, fine wine has brought investors an average annual return of 10.6%. 

Vinovest uses a combination of AI and human expertise to select wines and whiskies that are expected to appreciate in value. So, if the company does its job well, it’s reasonable to hope you’ll end up earning around 10% per year – minus the Vinovest fees, of course.

In a recent success, Vinovest sold a batch of whiskey that earned 30.31% for investors in less than a year. Will all Vinovest investments go that well? Probably not. But it’s exciting to know a massive return is possible!

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Pros and Cons of Vint vs Vinovest

One way to resolve the Vint vs Vinovest debate is by examining the pros and cons of each platform. So, let’s give it a shot!

Pros and Cons of Vint

Vint Pros

• The minimum investment is just $25. Each “collection” on the platform has its own share price. Since the lowest is just $25, that’s all you have to spend to invest in fine wine and spirits through Vint.
• You can choose which collections to invest in. Vint will give you a “thesis” for why each collection could make money. That means you can read up on your options before making a choice. 
• The annual return has been 28.7%. Can you count on that impressive streak continuing? Not necessarily, but it’s definitely a good sign!

Vint Cons

• There’s a hefty sourcing fee. Some investors have even had to pay 35% when buying into a new collection – but each collection has its own pay, so you could end up paying significantly less.
• You can’t buy individual bottles or cases. Vint offers mini portfolios called “collections,” meaning you don’t pick specific products. 
• You can’t take physical possession of the bottles. Since you’re not the only owner, there’s no option to actually touch (or drink!) your wine and spirits. 

Pros and Cons of Vinovest

Vinovest Pros

• You’re the actual owner of the wine or whiskey. Don’t feel like sharing? With Vinovest, what you purchase is literally yours.
• You can request the bottles to be sent to your home. Vinovest will gladly store your purchases, but you can also take physical possession of them if you want.
• Vinovest will create a personalized portfolio. You don’t have to pick from existing options. The platform will choose bottles specifically designed to meet your goals as an investor.

Vinovest Cons

• The minimum investment is $1,000. That will price lots of people out of the platform – and it makes Vint, with its $25 minimum, the more accessible option in the Vinovest vs Vint debate.
• There are four different fees. Sure, the highest is only 2.5%, but the fees are still likely to be a regular nuisance. 
• Vinovest doesn’t publish average returns. Instead, they tout the fact that fine wine, in general, has brought an average annual return of 10.6% over the past three decades. You’ll have to trust the platform to get you near that number. 

Vint vs Vinovest Reviews

How do individual users experience each side of the Vinovest vs Vint debate? Let’s look at some customer reviews on Trustpilot to find out.

In a 5-star Vint review, someone said it was easy to navigate the platform and access immediate customer support. 

Another user called Vint the “best wine investment platform out there.” So no, they didn’t call out Vinovest by name, but it’s pretty clear who they support in the Vint vs Vinovest showdown!

Amazingly, there were no negative Vint reviews on Trustpilot. As in, zero! 

The closest I found to a bad review was someone who gave the platform “only” 4 stars. This person made an important point: Wine and whiskey are meant to be long-term investments. 

Vinovest also has plenty of positive reviews on Trustpilot. One user called it a “very thorough platform” with a helpful tool for checking on your investments.

Another user called Vinovest “awesome” but said the search filters could be improved so that customers have an easier time finding specific bottles.

There are a few negative reviews for Vinovest, probably because the company generally attracts more attention online than Vint.

In a 1-star Vint review, someone warned, “Do not invest with this company.” Apparently, they were having a hard time liquidating their portfolio.  

Vint vs Vinovest Reddit

On Reddit, there’s an entire forum (or “Subreddit”) dedicated to Vinovest. And on that forum, someone asked for people’s opinions of Vint. 

What a great place to see the Vinovest vs Vint debate play out among actual users!

A few people responded with positive stories about Vint. One user said they’d invested in “over a dozen offerings” and gained about 30% on a whiskey deal.

Another user said they prefer Vint’s business model in the Vint vs Vinovest discussion. In this person’s opinion, direct ownership was proving to be an “Achilles’ heel” for Vinovest.

Another user said that if you don’t like Vinovest, then Vint won’t be any better. And while their tone is a little negative, they do have a point. Both sides in the Vinovest vs Vint debate only make sense if you want to invest in fine wine and spirits and you’re willing to hold onto a long-term investment. 

Vint vs Vinovest: Which is Better?

Neither side is inherently “better” in the Vint vs Vinovest discussion. It all depends on your goals and expectations. 

Let’s say you:

• Want to invest less than $1,000
• Are happy to buy “shares” of a collection along with other investors
• Don’t need (or want) to take physical possession of bottles

In that case, Vint is 100% the winner of the Vinovest vs Vint battle. You’ll avoid Vinovest’s $1,000 minimum, and you can enjoy the returns from your collections without taking on complete ownership.

Now, let’s imagine you:

• Plan to invest $1,000 or more
• Want to own specific bottles
• Want the option to store wine and whiskey at your home

If that describes you, then Vinovest is worth considering. You’ll meet the $1,000 minimum investment requirement, and you’ll avoid Vint’s sourcing fees – which can be pretty hefty.

Whichever platform you choose, just make sure your wine and spirit investments are part of a broader strategy. You shouldn’t be putting all your money into this single-asset class!

If you’d like to learn about how AI could help you manage your portfolio, check out our Streetbeat review.

For more investment ideas, check out this guide to alternative investments. And to make the most of your savings, read about the best way to invest money.

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Commonly Asked Questions About Vint vs Vinovest

What is The Difference Between Vint and Vinovest?

The main difference between Vint and Vinovest is the investment model. With Vint, investors buy shares of portfolios called “collections,” and they co-own these collections with other investors. With Vinovest, investors buy bottles and cases themselves (meaning they have full ownership of their investments). 

What is The Minimum Investment for Vint?

The minimum investment with Vint is only $25. That’s the share price for some mini portfolios, which are called “collections.” Keep in mind each collection has a different share price, so you might have to spend more than $25 to make the specific investment you want. 

Vint Reviews?

Vint generally gets excellent reviews, earning an average of 4.4 stars from users on Trustpilot. People praise the usability of the platform, the quickness of the customer support, and the wide variety of wines and spirits available.