What is Vinobo?
Vinobo is an objective source of information and entertainment about California wine for wine hobbyists and wine tourists. There is a blog, and there will be a series of free online taste-along video lessons. There will be a smart phone app which acts as a self-guided tour of California’s wine country. And there will be a desktop app for pre-planning tours, setting up itineraries, archiving notes, etc.
Why Vinobo?
We liked the way it sounds. That’s pretty much it.
If you want more, Bonobos are an endangered species of chimpanzee (Pan paniscus) from south of the Congo River more closely related to humans than is any other animal. A matriarchic society, Bonobos are famously known as the “make love; not war” primate.
Who Are We?
Our smartphone and desktop apps are fueled by the objective, expert opinions of a Baby Boomer who helped found the Society of Wine Educators, wrote the Oxford Companion to Wines of North America (Oxford Univ. Press, 2000), and taught wine appreciation classes on the Stanford campus for 15 years. Our marketing person is a Millennial; our graphics designer works full-time at the Tech Museum in San Jose. Our images and sound creativity come from a hereditary Scottish laird who’s lived in Napa Valley for 25 years. Our app software is designed by a Senior Engineer, who is a wine hobbyist, with clients ranging from American Express to the US Navy SEALS. Our Advisory Committee includes the VP of Marketing for an Electronic Arts company, a New York advertising agency owner whose specialty is Hospitality (clients like Kimpton Hotels and Pebble Beach GC), and the owner of a top wine PR agency in San Francisco. Our Seed Capital was supplied by the biggest shareholder in one of the world’s largest online wine auction houses.
We intend to make our wine information fun, useful, and very entertaining.
