Where Is Obvious Wines From Shark Tank Today?
Sometimes, the best products are the ones that seem most obvious in hindsight. Obvious Wines — a boutique, vegan, and sustainable wine brand — hoped to be exactly that by marketing itself plainly to the layman. Despite this wine's uniqueness, it's not intended for snobs. It's wine made simple.
Brice Baillie, the French CEO who founded the company in 2018, appeared on Season 10 Episode 12 of "Shark Tank." He offered the Sharks a 5% stake in his business in exchange for a $150,000 investment. Obvious Wines came in with proven success in Southern California, but California drinks more wine than any other state, so that was no guarantee this venture could thrive nationally. Daymond John, Kevin O'Leary, Mark Cuban, and Robert Herjavec bowed out, yet Lori Greiner eventually agreed to invest $160,000 in exchange for 12.5% equity (per 2Paragraphs). So, did that help Obvious Wines get the "Shark Tank" bump?
Was it an obvious partnership?
You would think Baillie and Greiner were a natural duo, but there was very little news about the two in the wake of their deal. In fact, when Baillie interviewed with Forbes less than one year after his TV appearance, he didn't even mention "Shark Tank." Instead, Baillie spoke about his journey from Champagne businessman to Los Angeles vintner. Whether or not Greiner helped him continue that journey was unclear, but Baillie revealed the brand expanded to include six varieties. Additionally, the business had spread from SoCal to Colorado and Texas.
Obvious Wines ended up crowdfunding investments via Start Engine and ultimately, the company raised over $223,000 from 172 investors, putting the company's valuation at $11 million — much more than Greiner had valued it. Things seemed optimistic, and Obvious Wines has a nice social media following, although the last Instagram post was in December of 2022. But we have to wonder, where is the business today?
How long is a lifetime of wine?
Ultimately, it appears that Greiner is not involved in Obvious Wines and the verbal agreement she shook on was never set in stone. On her professional website, Obvious Wines is not listed as a product. Sadly, the reason the deal never went through is far from obvious.
Yet, Obvious Wines is still around and relying on publicity to make it big. In 2021, the venture offered its customers a lifelong subscription of wines for $6,000. "Working in the wine trade, we can be somewhat desensitized to such conveniences," Baillie told The Drinks Business. "Our goal is to make that same peace of mind more accessible." Obvious Wines calculated the average customer would get their money's worth after merely seven years, but the promotion might have been worth it for Obvious Wines in terms of marketing. The question is — will Obvious Wines still be around in seven years?