Bee D’Vine is a honey wine that tastes different from typical wines without being too sweet. It’s made mainly of spring water and honey. It’s made by aging the mixture for fifteen months. After doing this, he ages it again in the bottle. When the wine is ready, it tastes like jasmine, almond, and honey.
The wine is easy to make and eco-friendly because unlike traditional wine; you don’t need to go through all the expensive maintenance or irrigation of a large vineyard. The wine was invented by Ayele Solomon, who invented it because it was popular in Ethiopia, where he was born. The company’s current wineries are in Napa Valley and they have a tasting room too in San Francisco. Solomon plans on eventually getting wild honey from the jungle for his wine.
Solomon had done his degree in Environmental Economics and came up with this idea while he was interviewing people in Ethiopia for a project. After its first six weeks on the market, Bee D’Vine was featured on NBC’s The Today Show. Later, Solomon was named a Trendsetter in Wine and Food Magazine, which made him a honey wine expert. So, other than Bee D’Vine Honey Wine, no other brand has been able to grasp the recipe for honey wine.
Before coming to Shark Tank, the company was making its sales through its website, but they were hoping to get better marketing through a Shark investment.
Are They Still an Active Company?
Yes, they are active and still in business.
How Did the Shark Tank Pitch Go?
Solomon came to Shark Tank hoping to get $750,000 for a 20% stake in the company. He started the pitch by showing the sharks how honey can be used to make wine. He also gave the sharks four types of his wines, and they all agreed that they were very good. Also, he added that the company also had a plan to save the bee hives, which was praised by all the sharks.
Then he shared the sales, which were at $400,000 over the last six years. But he added, that in the past year, $115,000 worth of the wine has been sold, so things seem to be progressing well. All the sharks were interested, except Kevin O’Leary, who had previously already invested in a similar product.
Solomon added that the typical bottle sold for between $39 and $49, but it only cost $5 to make. The sharks recommended that the company make a cheaper wine that costs around $15. This could bring in new customers who don’t wish to spend so much for a brand of wine they haven’t tried before. Mark, Lori, Robert, as well as Daniel pitched this advice and offered to invest $750,000 in Bee D’Vine Honey Wine in exchange for 40% of the company. Ayele agreed to this deal.
After being on Shark Tank, the company seems to be selling a $29 bottle of honey wine, possibly because of what the sharks said. Their sales went up a lot .Since the company’s founder stated that it tastes amazing people started buying it to try it out. Just a few weeks after this episode came out, this company sold millions of dollars of honey liquor bottles.
It has also changed the prices of its wines a lot. Its two wines, Berelé T’ej Flask as well as Wancha (grape Wine) Chardonnay, now cost $10 and $28, respectively.
After this episode came out, the numerous sales made this stock run out. New stock arrived in March 2022. By May of this year, they’ve been in business for 8 years. Their current net worth is at $2.3 million which is a huge jump from what they had at the time of the Shark Tank episode.
Our Review of Bee D’Vine Honey Wine
We decided to try out Bee D’Vine Honey Wine for ourselves to see how it would taste in real life.
The good news is that it smells fresh and floral. It’s got a taste of blossoms that look like bells and smell like honeysuckle. The mix of natural spring and honey gives it a freshness. Think of the smell of soil after it rains in the evening during the summer, right next to a flower in bloom.
It’s environmentally friendly because they don’t make it in bulk and don’t require large acres of land like traditional wineries do. It’s just made with two ingredients- honey and spring water. Of course, the wine is aged for some time.
The bad news is that you need an acquired taste to enjoy it. Most people who are used to traditional wine might find this taste off putting, which is why it only caters to a specific customer base.
Pros of Bee D’Vine Honey Wine
- Low alcohol content
- Eco-friendly
- Tastes amazing
- Now affordable
Cons of Bee D’Vine Honey Wine
- Acquired taste
Who Is This Wine for?
This wine’s mainly aimed at wine connoisseurs or simply people who want to try a different type of wine.
Are There Any Other Options?
Although this recipe is unique, there are many alternatives on the market for honey wine.
The Redstone Meadery Honey Wine is one good alternative to Bee D’Vine. They’re fermented till the alcohol content is at 12% then bottled and fermented again. It tastes a lot like regular red/white wines. The bottles are dates, so you know how old the batch is, and they make their batches in bulk. Unlike Bee D’Vine, they use different types of honey and this wine tastes best chilled or even at room temperature.
Final Thoughts
The wine’s an interesting alternative to traditional grape wines, especially because of the company’s unique recipe for the wine. It tastes amazing, the packing is eco-friendly, and it’s better for the environment than traditional vineyards which require a LOT of land.
