Barcelona and wine are becoming more and more synonymous, and if you throw in the tech biz here in the city, you’ve got an interesting “coupage” of opportunities for all three. Cue WineJaunt, a new app that connects wine lovers with wineries. As WineJaunt says, “You can explore wineries in your backyard or plan where to go on your next vacation. You will discover wineries that will charm you with their story, amaze you with their beauty, and seduce you with their wine.”
I had the pleasure of meeting their co-founder and CEO Juliette Espinosa, through mutual friends, and was blown away by not only how brilliant the app is but her passion for the wine industry. Originally from Cuba, Juliette came to Barcelona to study her masters degree in something complicated and tech related, but once she was here, just fell in love with not only the region, but the wines as well. It opened up her world to the greater wine globe, and since her first sip, she’s travelled to a variety of wine regions in Spain, France, Italy, and even some lesser know Baltic regions, as you can see on her Instagram account. You can find out more details about the app (available both in Android and iOS versions) here.
Without further ado, here’s my 9 Questions with Juliette:
What was your inspiration to go into the wine world and creating a wine app? Like so many other entrepreneurs, I was scratching my own itch. When I moved to Barcelona, I was so happy to realize the amazing quality of the local wine scene. I loved attending wine fairs and learning from the wineries themselves so naturally I wanted to visit the wineries themselves. The winery visit turned out to be even better than I hoped but was too frustrating to plan. Even when I knew where I wanted to go, it was time consuming to gather the information about which wineries offer visits and at what times. Planning visits to regions that I was unfamiliar with was even more challenging. We mostly just relied on word of mouth. There had to be a better way and creating it myself felt like an exciting opportunity.
What is the most challenging thing about being a programmer? For most of my colleagues, I think biggest the struggle is to stay current with the technologies in which they have mastery while also adapting to changing environments by learning new languages and tools. It is a broad world that is constantly evolving. If you are a software engineer, you will be studying for the rest of your life. You will be evaluating strategically which new skills to add and which you can do without, while not losing your existing expertise.
Personally, I like that aspect because it means I am never bored. For me, the challenge is achieving balance. Programming requires a high degree of deep analysis and abstraction so most of us are best with long, uninterrupted periods of deep concentration. However, I am a dynamic person, who needs to change activities, exchange ideas, and exploit my creativity. My preference now is to play a multi-disciplinary role, helping people overcome the challenges of selecting, building, and applying software.
What has been your most memorable experience working on WineJaunt? We invited some friends over to test an early version of the app. Of course there was wine as well. The group was mixed between people who had done a few winery visits and others that had not. The friends who had more experience appreciated how helpful the app was but what really surprised me was how excited the novices were to realize the opportunities just outside Barcelona. They started talking amongst themselves about where they wanted to go and organizing plans. We were excited to see that there was a whole new market for the wineries if only it could be made easy and affordable to organize the visit.
What’s your favourite wine – red, white or rose and why? Red without a doubt. I like complex wines with strong tannins and aroma of ripe black fruit. The person who introduced me to wine was from France, and I guess I have always loved the Bordeaux style.
If you could share a bottle of wine with anyone famous (dead or alive) who would it be and why? Could I choose several (Ed – Of course 🙂 )? I would like to organize a wine tasting with some characters like: Julius Caesar, Napoleon, Freud, Einstein, da Vinci, Mozart… I would choose Plato to lead the dialogue. It could be a very interesting and fun debate after everyone’s a little drunk.
What is your favourite wine from Catalunya? Ohh, it changes from month to month. There are so many good wines in Catalunya that it is almost impossible to select just one. Since I discovered the first Catalan wine I have been so enthusiastic in tying new ones. However, my biggest weakness is the Priorat wines. Tocs from Terres de Vidalba in Poboleda and Martinet Bru from Mas Martinet have been in my top list for a long time, and they will stay there.
How do you see technology helping winemakers now and in the future? Well, I am imagine that improvements in technology can help wineries in monitoring the vineyards and the elaboration process. Though I am not knowledgeable in those areas, I will be researching those areas soon. My perceptions winery sector is not really technologically developed and I am passionate about the idea of creating the best tools for helping them with all their daily activities and processes.
Now, I’m more focused on tools to help for smaller, lesser known wineries and regions to gain exposure to customers they were unable to reach through the traditional models centered on distributors and advertisers. We are taking baby steps in that direction in applying technology to the wine tourism sector but believe we have much further to go.
I´m also intrigued by the algorithms for understanding taste preferences and predicting which wines that might appeal to me. There are probably some wineries making wines that are a perfect match for me but how do I sort through the tens of thousands of possibilities in an effective manner? Machine learning algorithms might work.
Where is the wine place in the world you love to go for wine, that you have not experienced yet? Australia is the top country on my list. I would like to go to Tasmania. It looks like a very beautiful island and is one of the coldest regions on the planet to grow and produce sparkling wine because the cold does not allow the grapes to ripen. I’m very sensitive to cold since I come from a place where you live an eternal summer but I think the quality of the wine is worth the cold. Since I will be there, I will undoubtedly also visit the the Yarra Valley, Barosa Valley, and Coonawarra.
Where is your favourite place to enjoy a glass of wine? It is very difficult for me to select favorite things since I do not like the routine. However, if I have to choose, my favorite place to enjoy a glass of wine would be on a rainy day behind a glass window and near a fireplace overlooking the vineyards. That’s something incredibly relaxing and energizing for me.
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Download the app here for iOS, here for Android, and follow them on Instagram here.