It’s A Wild Story : The Story of Kind of Wild Wines
Meet Kind of Wild Wines. A new organic and vegan certified brand that delivers wine straight to your door. This is our wild story.
Kind of Wild founders Adam and Jordan will be the first to admit: the odds were stacked against them. Looking back, planning to launch a wine brand in 2020 was an ambitious task. Yet, the brotherly duo faced the challenge head-on and used their learnings to disrupt the market instead. Thanks to their global approach, the KoW team has proven that it’s entirely possible to make wine together while completely apart and deliver a wine brand that is in line with a singular vision of being organically certified and better for the planet. It’s a wild story, so here it goes:
THINK ORGANIC, DRINK ORGANIC
Adam and Jordan have always enjoyed organic produce and other natural foods when providing for their families. It’s become an ingrained lifestyle choice for the brothers.
“For years, we have bought organic foods – from eggs to vegetables and milk. Yet, we noticed that consumers don’t always do the same with their wines. We want people to think of wine as food. If you eat organic, you can drink organic. There’s no reason why a consumer can’t have access to a wide selection of certified organic wines from premium appellations, so we decided to make it possible,” explains Jordan.
With this in mind, the Sager brothers combined their years of experience operating as an importer to create a business model that would make high-quality certified organic wine easily accessible to the US market.
“For decades, we have been supplying the country’s top restaurants and wine shops with the world’s best and fully certified organic and vegan wines. So we know what’s out there. We’ve put in the work by solidifying long-term relationships with the world’s finest organic growers and adopting a minimal impact approach to ensure our customers can enjoy a diverse selection of wines that also happen to be better for the environment. It’s a win-win,” adds Adam.
Interestingly, the idea burgeoned at the same time as the pandemic, which is why their efforts focused on e-commerce opportunities and utilized crowdfunding.
“We want to keep Kind of Wild as authentic as possible and feel the best way to do that is to control our messaging. What better way to do that than learn from our consumers, listen to their pledges, and implement their feedback? That’s why we opted to incorporate crowdfunding,” says Jordan.
Kind of Wild Wines set up their campaign on the IndieGoGo platform. At first, they relied on their friends, family, and existing Winesellers Ltd. customers to generate a buzz. Within two weeks, the campaign was fully funded, with over 100 committed subscribers to Club Wild.
“We’re thrilled and humbled by the results so far. It reaffirms that there is not only a need, but an actual audience, out there for our wines, and we can’t wait to bring it to them,” adds Adam.
REWILDING OUR PLANET
Spurred on by the support of their crowdfunding campaign, Kind of Wild launched in April 2021. It is a first for the US wine market, offering customers a global collection of certified organic and vegan wine discoveries delivered directly to your doorstep, in order to support winemakers that farm healthy soils. While these wine are available à la carte, the idea is to join Club Wild as a subscription member to receive them effortlessly monthly, bi-monthly, or quarterly based on your likes and needs. The initial collection is a portfolio of 6 organic wines from 6 different countries – one Rosé, two Whites, and three Reds. The wines are sourced and crafted from six premium wine-growing appellations in France, Spain, Italy, Austria, Argentina, and Chile.
The brand’s name stems from the concept of rewilding our planet and returning it to its most natural form. At the same time, it also communicates that the people behind the brand are genuine, kind, and kind of unconventional. This philosophy of care has deep roots in Kind of Wild. According to Adam, Kind of Wild was created to “encourage healthier soils, cleaner air, and wines that are better for you.”
For Kind of Wild Wines, the team is dedicated to working in harmony with nature and believes there is always an opportunity to restore our Earth. That’s why they have built a brand that is devoted to ‘rewilding’ the planet by working solely with organic grape growers farming healthier soils, and improving their environmental impact.
“When we learned that healthy soils, void of chemical residues and abundant in microorganisms, can be a climate solution, we were motivated to double up our efforts to create Kind of Wild. That’s why, when it comes to crafting our wine selection, we partner with trusted family growers and source from specific vineyard sites. We need to know exactly where the wine comes from and how it was made,” explains Jordan.
The duo’s dedication to sustainable farming extends to all facets of the brand. All Kind of Wild Wines are made with grapes grown on certified organic vineyards and are certified vegan (produced without animal products for fining). They are low in sulfur, and all growers are encouraged to incorporate regenerative farming practices in their organic vineyards to benefit soil health.
“Great wine starts at ground level – in healthy soil. Healthy soils produce a healthy plant, a healthy plant produces better fruit, and better fruit produces the best wines. We feel, together with our customers, we can make a real difference and do something to improve the health of our planet, while also being able to enjoy a glass of great wine,” claims Adam.
DRINK WITH CARE
No stone has been left unturned by the Kind of Wild team. Each label showcases its own unique, original illustration that explores the positive association of humanity and nature.
“The idea was to be as diverse in the artistic themes and content of each illustration as the wines are in their unique origins, varietals, and sense of place,” Jordan conveys. In addition, Kind of Wild is committing to donate at least 1% of its revenue to partner environmental foundations such as Kiss The Ground + Organic Farming Research Foundation that promote and provide support for organic and regenerative farming.
Finally, in an attempt to reduce their environmental footprint, all Kind of Wild dry goods and materials were selected using sustainable and responsible, minimal-impact criteria.
Kind of Wild Wines prides itself on using eco-friendly packaging at every step of the process.
“We are very conscious of our impact on the environment. For example, we chose lighter-weight, American-made glass bottles that greatly reduce the overall carbon footprint. We also use cork closures with no capsules covering the top of our bottles, and the labels on the bottles are produced from sugar cane, linen, and hemp. Our shipping packaging is ultra-sleek and minimalist, made from SFI certified (Sustainable Forestry Initiative) corrugated, and is curbside recyclable. Even our marketing and POS materials are recyclable and also printed with vegetable inks!” ends Jordan.
Ultimately, Kind of Wild wines’ ambition is to make delicious, high-quality, and sustainably produced wines available to anyone who wants them. They also want to help broaden wine lovers’ viticultural horizons by introducing them to new varieties sourced from exciting and different locations from all over the world. As people seek more transparency, diversity, and traceability with their buying decisions, Adam and Jordan believe that this desire will extend to wine, with Kind of Wild leading the way to encourage everyone to drink with care.