Napa, California | April 8, 2021 — Vinfolio, one of the country’s leading fine-wine companies, is pleased to announce its hire of new Chief Technology Officer Stephen Mutch. Mutch will be leading the development of strategic technology solutions that align with Vinfolio’s goal to make buying, selling, and storing fine wine a seamless, technology-driven experience for collectors.
“Stephen brings a wealth of industry-related tech experience to Vinfolio, both as an entrepreneur and with WineDirect,” says Adam Lapierre, Vinfolio’s President. “We are confident that Stephen’s contribution to the company will position us for true innovation, solidifying our role as the market leader in our space.”
Mutch was raised in San Diego, California. After serving in the United States Marine Corps, he began his career in technology in one of the largest data centers in Southern California. That experience highlighted his passion for online applications and the utilization of technology to simplify complex problems. After relocating to Napa, California in 2006, Mutch took his technical expertise to the wine industry, landing a position with the startup Inertia Beverage Group, now WineDirect—where he eventually became Vice President. With WineDirect, Mutch learned the unique challenges and needs of the wine industry, as well as the complexities of its highly regulated marketplace. In 2011, Mutch left WineDirect to develop his own proprietary, end-to-end solution that simplified commerce, customer management, compliance, and shipping for hundreds of wineries and retailers within the industry.
“I am excited to be joining the team at Vinfolio and to be a part of an organization that is hyper-focused on delivering exceptional consumer experiences,” Mutch says. “The future of this company and the opportunities in the marketplace are exciting. I look forward to developing a strong technology strategy and infrastructure to meet its needs.”
Vinfolio transforms how the fine wine community buys, sells, manages, and enjoys fine wine with advanced cellar management technology, fine wine storage facilities, and a direct-to-consumer ecommerce platform. Combined, these systems empower the fine wine enthusiast to acquire highly collectible wine directly from producers, purchase and sell wine from Vinfolio’s collector marketplace, stay on top of every bottle in their cellar, and engage with other fine wine collectors, industry influencers, and winemakers—all in one seamless experience.
Vinfolio is majority-owned by Executive Chairman Don St. Pierre Jr. and his business partner and good friend Allan Warburg, co-founder and co-CEO of Bestseller Fashion Group China. St. Pierre is the recipient of numerous wine industry accolades, including being named number seven on Decanter magazine’s 2011 Top 50 global wine industry power players and selected by Wine Enthusiast Magazine as the 2011 International Man of the Year. In 2012, the French government awarded St. Pierre Jr. the degree of Knight in the French Ordre du Mérite Agricole, and in 2015, he was appointed as a member of the supervisory board of Vinexpo Overseas. Vinfolio’s ownership also includes Jean-Michel Valette, who chairs the Education and Examination Board (EEB) of the Institute of Masters of Wine and is former chairman of Robert Mondavi Corporation and Peet’s Coffee, and Jon Moramarco, former CEO of Constellation Brands.
