About Us:

Our Business

Wine Societies is a wine brokerage service, licensed in the State of California, that provides direct online channels for Wineries to sell all wine and fine wine Collectors to sell vintage wine (vintage wine is here defined as red wine at ten years or older and white or sparkling wine at five years or older) to California Licensed Buyers of alcohol.

Product and monies are exchanged directly between Buyers and Sellers, upon the successful completion of an Auction or Sale process on this platform.

The navigation bar at the top of this page provides access to information on how to use this platform and service, and how to contact the Wine Societies team for any comments, questions or issues.

Our Customers

Wineries who want to sell all wine directly to Licensed Buyers.

Fine wine Collectors who want to sell vintage wine directly to Licensed Buyers. Collectors may also avail of the inventorying, fine wine appraisal, warehousing, fine wine authentication, payment-logistics and shipping services offered by Wine Societies.

Licensed Buyers who want direct access to the portfolios of great Wineries and the collections of the most discerning wine connoisseurs.

Our Technology

Our real-time user-generated online Auction & Sale platform connects Buyers and Sellers through either a bidding or fixed-price transaction process.

Sellers are able to post their wine and monitor the sale process, and choose a qualified Buyer first, before ever parting with their wine. Sellers can also manage their portfolio using the online Cellar Management feature. From here, they can obtain current Retail prices of the wines in their Cellar, and post wines directly from their Cellar for sale in the Marketplace.

Buyers are able to view all active Auctions and Sales in progress, and participate in only the ones they choose, from any physical location. Buyers may purchase partial quantities of an offered lot, if allowed by the Seller.

The entire process is simple and efficient. While Buyers and Sellers are known to each other only by their screen-names, they are still able to “message” each other, in order to exchange further information regarding the wine, placement, pricing and shipping. Only after a sale is final does the system let each party know of the others’ contact information.

Although the buying and selling process is conducted online, the Wine Societies team is always available to assist Buyers and Sellers in any way needed, at all times.

Our Advantages

Membership is completely free. Registration takes less than 1 minute.

Sellers use the service free of charge and directly access Licensed Buyers. This enables them to price their wine well below Retail pricing, while still being able to profit from the transaction.

Licensed Buyers pay the lowest commission rate of 10% of any wine auction Marketplace, online or otherwise. They gain direct access to Sellers, who are pricing their wine very attractively for re-sale in the Retail market. Even with the 10% commission charge, Licensed Buyers are able to obtain hard to find wine from Wineries and fine wine Collectors, which they can re-sell profitably.

Fine wine Collectors have access to our value-added convenience services for inventorying, fine wine appraisal, warehousing, fine wine authentication, payment-logistics and shipping.

The efficiency and scalability of our business model enables us to quickly adapt to changing market and industry conditions, while ensuring that our members experience no disruption in the exceptional end-to-end services we offer.

Our Team

Raj Ramamurti Founder & CEO Raj has been a wine enthusiast and Collector for many years. He combined this with the entrepreneur in him, to start the Wine Societies project. “The wine industry is going through a very interesting transition in the way wine is bought and sold, and the Internet is significantly influencing it. Wine Societies offers Wineries, fine wine Collectors and Licensed Buyers an efficient, cost-effective and timely solution to the supply and demand challenges facing the industry today, and in the long term.” Raj attended the University of Pennsylvania, and graduated with a degree in Electrical Engineering from the Moore School and a degree in Entrepreneurship from the Wharton School. In addition to fine wine and wine culture, his interests include global macroeconomic and monetary policies, music, opera, literature, travel, windsurfing, snowboarding, endurance training, and yoga.

Paul Jones Director of Marketing & Business Development Paul is a seasoned wine industry professional with recognized expertise in fine and rare wines, market analysis, and collection management. Paul got started with wine locally in Virgina and expanded internationally from there. Just after college graduation, Paul rolled up his sleeves to work harvest at a family-owned winery where he learned all about the grape-growing and wine-making process. Curious about the wines of the world, he began a formal course of wine study and traveled widely. Back at home, Paul worked for a local wine merchant, continuing to explore the French and Italian wines and deepening his taste for European grapes. Lured by the California wine culture, Paul moved to San Francisco to sell fine wines for Premier Cru, where he developed an extensive network of Buyers and Sellers across the world, and helped the company maintain a dominant position in fine wine trading markets. Next, Paul set out to broaden his study of wine through the WSET diploma program and founded 23 Brix, a consultancy and agent to fine and rare wine Collectors. Through 23 Brix, Paul married economics with portfolio theory in servicing Collectors of investment-grade wine, providing advice based on analyses of their collections and market opportunities. Paul managed sales and purchasing on his clients’ behalf which solidified his position in the global fine and rare wine markets. To provide a full-service experience, Paul co-founded the Healdsburg Wine Alliance and began offering wine-related events and tutored tastings based on individual and specific needs. Paul attended the University of Virginia and graduated with degrees in Anthropology and Sociology. He holds a certificate degree in Business Administration from U.C. Berkeley. In addition to the obvious, Paul’s interests include gourmet cooking, pre-prohibition era cocktails, cinematography, and American literature. At Wine Societies, Paul manages fine wine Collector Business Development and relationships. Christian Lane Director of Marketing & Business Development “Once, I didn’t know what mystified me about wine. I’m still collecting answers and may be able to explain – in about 50 years! The process of moving vinifera to the dinner table has defined my life. Here is an opportunity to question the status quo and embrace a whole new way of being. I encourage you to stop camouflaging spending as marketing. Let this new modality free up capital and destroy the borders of wine choice.” At Wine Societies, Christian manages Winery Business Development and relationships. JoAnn Dueno Director of Marketing & Business Development With 20 years experience in the Wine Industry, JoAnn has worn many hats, starting with the position of Buyer for restaurants and clubs. She then moved to sales & marketing for Distributors, and finally into Management, Brokering and Consulting. “Clearly recognizing the necessity for progression in how wines are moved in the marketplace, Wine Societies breaks that glass ceiling of the Three-Tier system. It will change how we do business with Wineries, fine wine Collectors and Licensed Buyers, nationally and internationally! Very exciting!” At Wine Societies, JoAnn manages Social Media Marketing and Public Relations programs, and co-manages Winery Business Development and relationships. Lee Goodman Director of Marketing & Business Development “My approach here is informed by my previous involvement within the Distribution system. I call for all fine wine Collectors and wine industry principals to empower themselves by joining this Direct to Trade movement. Additionally, I am appreciative of the many expressions of the arts: literary, visual, and of course, culinary. My love for wine stems from the fact that each bottle has a story, and a life, of its own. Let us be further enabled to listen to these stories, these lives.” At Wine Societies, Lee manages Business Analytics and Infrastructure optimizations.