Ep. 1465 Rachael Everitt | Voices With Cynthia Chaplin

Since twenty seventeen, the Italian One podcast has exploded and expects to hit six million listens by the end of July twenty twenty three. We're celebrating the success by recognizing those who have shared the journey with us. And giving them the opportunity to contribute to the ongoing success of the shows. By buying a paper copy of the Italian wine unplugged two point o or making a donation to help the ongoing running costs, members of the international Italian wine community will be given the chance to nominate future guests and even enter a prize draw to have lunch with Stevie Kim and Professor Atigio Shenza. To find out more, visit us at Italian wine podcast dot com. Welcome to the Italian wine podcast. I'm Cynthia Chaaplin, and this is voices. Every Wednesday, I will be sharing conversations with international wine industry professionals discussing issues in diversity, equity, and inclusion through their personal experiences, working in the field of wine. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and rate our show wherever you get your pods. Hello, and welcome to voices. This is Cynthia Chaplin, and today I am very excited to welcome Rachel Everett. She's the global marketing manager for In vivo wines in New Zealand. And In vivo is one of New Zealand's leading wine producers, and they also have operations in us Rilia, Italy, France, and Argentina. And they're probably best known for their ongoing collaboration with Sarah Jessica Parker that began in twenty nineteen. But this year, they launched in vivo X unity, which was the official prosecco for the Eurovision song contest. So welcome to the show. Thanks for making time to chat with me, Rachel. I mean, I'm here in Verona. You're in New Zealand with the power of technology. Yes. Hello. Thank you so much for having me. No. A huge pleasure. A huge pleasure. I'm so excited to talk to you about all the things you're up to. I'm not sure that many people know that In vivo is actually a winery in its own right. You took over a historic winery built in nineteen o two in New Zealand, And that's where the grapes are actually grown, and the wine is made for the Irish comedian, Graham Norton's signature wines, and Sarah Jessica Barker, Savignon Blanc. And I know you've been working with both of these celebrities for ages, and you're just about to launch the fifth vintage with SJP. But I also hear you you are doing all kinds of other interesting things, fun stunts, and exciting sort of other events, but you've also launched in vivo Airline, the first winery in the air, and that's been launched this year. So how did In vivo go from being a winery in New Zealand to collaborating with the rich and famous launching an airline? What what's the story? That's a great question. Question. So in vivo, to take you back about fifteen years ago, we were founded by, Tim and Rob, so they're two Kiwi school friends. Rob is a winemaker by trade, and Tim is he's a really commercial guy, and he's a great marketer. So they were both, in a pub in London. They used to live near to each other. They got together to talk about, I guess, how to make wine accessible, make it approachable, kind of take the b s out of wine, and have a lot of fun. So they came back to New Zealand, I think borrowed a little bit of money, and essentially set up in vivo you know, I think a good dose of Kiwi ingenuity, an entrepreneurial spirit. This was back in the middle of the GFC when believe it or not, New Zealand had heaps and heaps of sauvignon blanc. So, I mean, what better time to launch, a winery and make some sauvignon blanc when the country had heaps of it? So they, basically, they did heaps of hard yards. They went from store to store in New Zealand just hand selling their Cevignon blanc. I guess from the outset, they really wanted to, I guess, do some different things when it came to wine. So from that very first kind of wine and the label that went on the bottle, they partner with the New Zealand, fashion house over here to create the label and design a really beautiful premium label that had a gold star on it. Which represented bringing people together so great things can happen, which is our mission at in vivo. So that was about fifteen years ago. And here we are today, they took over historic places winery in the Waikato, which is a region just south of Auckland in New Zealand about eight years ago, and and that into a full working winery. We've really increased the capacity to make wine at that winery. And that's where all of the magic happens. And it's a it's a really lovely story because, back in nineteen o two, this is a guy called Romeo Bogato. He's something of a New Zealand wine legend. He actually made some of the first ever wines for New Zealand back at that winery. It was set up by the New Zealand government, as a research center. So he basically set out to make wine from New Zealand found out that we could and then one New Zealand's first ever medals for wine at the winery. So it's a pretty cool story. That's a really cool story. I I I certainly did not have that much background information. And I think when people think about you know, celebrity wine like Sarah Jessica Parker, Graham Norton, they don't really realize that this is coming from, you know, what is actually a historic winery. That's a very cool story. Absolutely. And you are now one of the Southern Hemisphere's largest crowd funded companies what exactly does that mean in how In vivo functions? How does winery become crowd fund? So I think that that's a great example of what Tim and Rob have kind of set out to do with In vivo is challenge the status quo. We do things differently. So, basically, crowd funding is when a company goes out to the public to invite them to be part of their business. So Tim and Rob quite a few years ago now took inspiration from some other industries who this has proved really successful for, and they brought that kind of innovation to the wine industry and also New Zealand really pushing the boundaries here. They've been out to crowd fund twice. First time, they thought, oh, it'd be great if we could raise a couple of hundred thousand dollars, but it really captured the imagination of the New Zealand public. They created a whole media storm, they were on primetime news here, and they managed to raise two million dollars. Then they went on to crowd fund a second time, so successfully. So now we have more than six hundred shareholders all around New Zealand who own a piece of In vivo, which is really lovely. They're super supportive. They champion us and our collaborations with Graeme Norton and Sarah Kapalka. It's like having, six hundred amazing brand ambassadors advocating for In vivo as a company. They're a fantastic support. That's really cool. And I I think, the idea behind it of inviting people to be part of their company it does really play into the hands of how accessible and, kind of, transparent and welcoming as wine business, Tim and Rob one of the e. And and that speaks volumes. I think a lot of wineries, you know, maintain this air of mystery and x exclusion and exclusivity even, and it's it's great to hear that in vivo is is kind of going the opposite way at this, which is which is really interesting. And I know you you've also branched out around the world. So how do you select partner wineries in other countries? I think You know, civilian block from New Zealand is our heartland, and, you know, we we produce a lot of civilian block, and that's really important to us. But we wanted the opportunity to partner with some of the world's best winemaking regions to make some varieties that aren't really possible to produce here. So for example, we partner with a producer in Italy to make, a prossecco with Grand Norton, but also we make a prossecco is the official prosecco of the Eurovision song contest. And, you know, we partner with, winery in, Argentina produced to produce a Malbec for Graeme Norton, but I think what's really key is that our winemaker Rob, and also, Graeme, for example, with his wines, they're still just as hands on and in and involved, with the tasting, and with the blending of the wines, and with signing everything off. So it's it's just allowed us to be really nimble and flexible, and the opportunity to make as many great wines from around the world as possible. I I think it's really important to hear that that Graham himself is involved in in the blending and the tasting and and hands on that way. I think people see a disconnect between these celebrities who just put their name on a wine that, you know, they've probably never set foot in the vineyard. So it's very nice to hear that he is so active and and proactive in participating in the production. And I I love that story. Yeah. Absolutely. And I think with both with Graham and Sarah Jessica, they're incredible partners, and that was what it was really important to In vivo from the outset. That it's a true collaboration and true partnership. You know, it's not just for us about, you know, sticking a name on a label and they're not being, involved within the process or not being authentic every single year, Tim and Rob, travel to meet Graham, in Ireland, in his holiday home, and they travel to meet Sarah Jessica in New York. And they take samples of that year's, Sabignon Blanc and some of the other wines that we create with them. And they spend hours going through and tasting and blending the wines, and that's what's really important because this is Graeme's wine, so it needs to reflect what Graeme's tastes are in a Cervignan blanc, and the same with Sarah Jess ago. Really, it's her wine, and it needs to represent what she likes in her glass. So it's incredibly important to us. Well, I'm not gonna lie. I would I would give anything to go to Graham Norton's holiday home in Ireland and drink wine with him. I think that sounds like a very fun day out, frankly. A lot of fun. They have they have a lot of fun. And it's it's so great. And what what's quite unique is that we record that blending session and then we release a short video, for everyone to see, around the world. So it just it's really about demystifying wine and saying, look, hey, this is this is what we do. This is part of the process, and you can have fun with it. Yeah. Well, as I said, I mean, you're singing my song. I I love this this transparency. And, you know, really opening the windows, opening the doors, letting people come in and see and, you know, understand what you're doing and why. And and people, I think, do feel a connection to wines that they, you know, have seen be created or, you know, that's it's very important to getting more people to the table. So I love that. And now I wanna talk about the wine that brought us together today, which is the in vivo unity, the as you mentioned, the official prosecco for the Eurovision song contest twenty twenty three. So first of all, congratulations to Sweden. They've won, and Italy managed to come a respectable fourth. So, give a little shout out to Italy there. But tell us about this wine because first of all, it is it is gorgeous and has this wonderful rainbow label. It was a very big part of the show. People were drinking it, holding up the bottle. I have tasted it myself. It's really bright. It has a great, you know, acidic spine to it and and a nice fine mousse. It's fruity. It's, you know, it has all of the good things that Prosecco is known for, and it's a fun wine. So How did this wine come to to be? How did In vivo get the gig to make the official wine for Eurovision? And what made you choose Prosecco? I mean, I know the contest was held in Torin, so it makes sense that the wine is Italian, but tell me the story of the background of this. Well, I'm firstly, I'm really glad to hear that, you've enjoyed it, and that you like the label. That's great. The label is what made me call me. Oh, amazing. Yeah. And I love the fact that it it had the rainbow on it. It was obviously meant to appeal to as wide an array of people as possible. It was very simple in its message. Anyone who hasn't seen the label should go look it up online because it's great. And what's really cool about the label is, wine is called unity, unity is the brand, but on the label, it has got the word unity translated into all of the languages of the countries that participate in the Eurovision song contest. So we just added that little touch, because the brand represents a fun celebration and inclusivity. So we have fun with that label. But look, we're all massive Eurovision fans here. At In vivo. I know it's a guilty pleasure. Anybody who says they don't like it is just lying? I I completely agree. It's the highlight of the year. And, in fact, our sales director, Bernard, went to the song contest last year in Italy and absolutely loved it. He I mean, he's from New Zealand. I'm British, obviously, but I live in New Zealand. So I'm very well versed with the song contest but, Bernie, he was a bit of a eurovision novice, and his first experience was going to eurovision, and now he's a complete eurovision fan. It's hard to resist. It's just great. But look, we're, yeah, we're all big fans of eurovision, and in vivo at actually, we were the wine of Eurovision a few years back. We sponsored the song contest. This was quite a few years ago. So we always, had a great connection with, the team at Eurovision. We just love what they're doing, and there's so many synergies within Vivo, and what we like and, you know, our values. So we just came up with an a crazy idea one day, that why don't we chat to your vision about creating the official wine or the official prosecco of the song contest? And it just seemed completely natural for In vivo to play in that space and do that because we're about you know, like I said, our mission is to bring people together so great things can happen, and what better to partner with and collaborate with, the Eurovision song contest, which is the world's biggest, you know, music festival. So, yeah, we teamed up with them to create the official prossecco of the song contest. And it's great. It's a it's a fun, bubbly celebratory wine. There's two prosseccos. There's a prossecco and a prossecco Rosse that of course, are from Italy, and it's just great. It's a, yeah, it's a lovely, partnership and, a lovely story. It's certainly, I think, embodied the contest. And as you said, not only eurovision's values, but, in vivo's values as well. And it it it served its purpose. Absolutely. The concept through the label, through the the accessibility of the wine, and this isn't a hugely complex wine. It's everyone can drink it. It's what I would call gluggable for sure. The simplicity of it and the the inclusivity of it were hugely successful. So, I I was reading a quote from Tim, actually, your your cofounder, where he said a philanthropic approach is important to us at In vivo, and there's an ongoing charitable element to unity wines that supports communities that are important to In vivo and the eurovision audience. So this year, you're donating a portion of unity proceeds to the right cross. So fill us in on Unity's charitable outreach and vivo outreach overall. Who are you supporting and how do you choose them? Are you enjoying this podcast? Don't forget to visit our YouTube channel, mama jumbo shrimp. For fascinating videos covering Stevie Kim and her travels across Italy and beyond, meeting winemakers, eating local foods, and taking in the scenery. Now back to the show. Well, do you know what is really tough because there are so many amazing organizations and charities doing such great work. You know, you kind of want to support everyone as a business, but like you say, you have to kind of select and choose. And I think for us, it's about we actually start at home back in New Zealand, and it's important to give back to our local community. So we have a number of really local charities that we support that are in the Waikato, for example, around where our winery is based, and also in orc in England and we kind of start there because we think it's really important to support our local community. And, you know, around in the towns and communities where our winery is, there's such big supporters of In vivo and you know, there's just there's pretty much just our winery in this region. So it's just it's really important for us to support our, communities. But I think what's also important is supporting the countries that we have a presence in, and that we, you know, it's really important to us as a company. So, unity, that's a, you know, that's one of the charities we supported. But, for example, for, Invivo, XSJP, We've got a great alliance with, an organization called Feed. They're doing some really awesome things. They're headed up by, Lauren Buschlerin, who's, you know, she's well known for her charitable work in the US. And they work to provide school meals to kids around the world through their on the ground giving partners. So we support them with events and with donations. And in twenty twenty one, we donate process of our of that vintage, from In vivo XS JP to feed. So for us, it's not a one size fits all. Supporting communities are really, really important to us. And, we we look for way new ways to support them every year. Yeah. That's that's great. And I I think, especially, you know, in the state of the global economy and post pandemic, so many people need help And it's nice to know that, you know, someone in the wine industry is reaching out that way. Again, you know, just the the inclusivity, you know, and you're not donating wine, you're donating money. And and, you know, people need financial assistance right now. So I think it's great that you're choosing your programs carefully and thoughtfully, and and making that impact. It's, you know, it's something that everyone should be doing more whenever they can. So I'm glad to know about that. Before I let you go, I have got to go back to something you said at the beginning of our conversation. You you mentioned that Tim and Rob, want to have a winery that's, you know, NoBS. And one of my favorite statements on the In vivo website is one hundred percent bullshit free since two thousand and eight. So, I I I would love to just talk about this for a minute. You know, what's in vivo's commitment to this this philosophy? It's an excellent philosophy, by the way. There's certainly a lot of bullshit in the wine world traditionally. So how are you weeding it out? You know, we've talked about, you know, you you put videos on, about your blending sessions and things? How are you weeding out BS. And what does your BS radar look like? That is a great question. I for us, it's we live and breathe it, and I think it's, you know, down to having a really down to earth approach to everything, the way you communicate with your customers, the way we work with our suppliers the way we work with our importer and distributor partners. We're upfront and honest and we're BS free. And for us, it's about, you know, making our wines and our company, we're approachable. Our wines are accessible to everyone. That doesn't mean that they can't be great quality. Rob and our winemaking team are amazing, and they regularly win, you know, ninety plus point scores by wine spectator, some really top act accolades that they're humbled by. It's about make yes. We make this great quality wines, but making them accessible too and talking about them in a really fun and down to earth way. And I think, you know, partnering with Sarah Jessica and she has this incredible way of talking about wine that really pushes the boundaries and that is completely the opposite to the traditional way of talking about wine. You know, she talks about wine as being, female or, you know, she's all figured, for example. And it's just for us, we're all about that. We're all about, approaching wine like that. There are an incredible amount of wineries who have generations of families in winemaking and talking about their you know, hundreds of years of history, which we have so much respect for them, and that is a wonderful thing, but that's not in vivo. You know, we're founded by two pretty down to earth Kiwis fifteen years ago with a mission to make wine fun approachable and bring people together so great things can happen, and we kind of live and breathe by that ethos. And you touched upon earlier, um, ching the world's first winery airline in Vivo Air. I have got to hear and that's a great example of, you know, just having fun with wine just to share a little bit more about that. Obviously, it's been a really tough couple of years, for with international travel, and COVID and all of that stuff. And we really wanted to, I guess, put a spotlight on in on New Zealand, encourage travel to our amazing winemaking regions, but also, come up with a really fun and idea to show that. So we just came up with the idea of creating the world's first winery airline, in a brainstorm one day in the office. And then next thing you know, some months later, we're taking, you know, thirty passengers from, Auckland to Queens on a curated twenty four hour experience with wine tasting in the sky, a visit to our vineyards in, Central Targo, an overnight stay at the Hilton, Queensstown, a lovely winemaker's dinner at a great restaurant called botswana, butchery, in Queens town, and then flying back up the next day. So it's just I think in Vivo, it's just a really great, great example of the fun that we like to have and taking the BS out of wine. That's incredible. And and I wish you lots of success, and I hope that, people follow suit because it's a great idea. And, of course, there's a lot of investment that goes into that and and time and planning, and I'm sure licensing and all the rest it. But, you know, as you you've mentioned a few times, bringing people together, and making great things happen. You're taking, you know, tourism. You're bringing people to the vineyards. You're kind of raising the profile of wine. And it's not it's not just something that ends up in your glass or sits in a dusty bottle on your shelf for a hundred years. But, you know, you've you've turned it into a three hundred and sixty degree event, and I sort of something people not only drink and enjoy, but also travel with, and it opens your mind and your imagination. So I I love that idea and wish you lots of success. How can I put you on the next flight? Oh my goodness. Yes. I'll I'll just nip over to New Zealand from from Italy. We could fly from, New Zealand to Italy and then bring you back. Now there's an idea. We will talk about this. We will talk about this, Rachel. Be before I say goodbye, I I do wanna talk about your your vision for the company, which you've mentioned a couple of times on bringing people together so great things can happen. What great things are coming up? That is a great question. Honestly, Who knows what will happen in the world of Invivo in the future? We've got some we've got some fun things coming up. We're we're focused on bringing more people together without collaborations in VivoX SJP and Grand Northern wine and spirits and in vivo, we have a range of wines under the In vivo name, but who knows in the future? We might be planning another wine flight to Presecco now. Who knows? But I think we'll see that there's lots of good things coming. I I can only imagine. I'm so happy to have spoken to you today, and I I love hearing the creativity and the passion and the enjoyment in your voice. I think that really comes through with the wines. It certainly did with, unity at the Eurovision song contest, that real desire by the producers to create something that people enjoy and share and and get know, get some real happiness out of. So congratulations again for getting that gig. And I will be keeping my eye on you and see what In vivo gets up to next. So thank you so much for giving me your time today. Thank you. It's been a lovely to chat to you. Thank you for listening. And remember to tune in next Wednesday when I'll be chatting with another fascinating guest. Italian wine podcast is among the leading wine podcast in the world, and the only one with a daily show. Tune in every day and discover all our different shows. You can find us at Italian wine podcast dot com, SoundCloud, Spotify, Himalaya, or wherever you get your pods.