Minnesota wine company, with Julianne Hough as partner, files for an IPO

A Plymouth-based company hopes to harvest $15 million in an initial public offering that would seed its California wine business.

Julianne Hough of "Dancing with the Stars" fame and Nina Dobrev of "Degrassi: The Next Generation" and "Vampire Diaries" are co-founders with former Anheuser-Busch InBev executive Rick Nechio. The other co-founder and Minnesota connection is businessman Damian Novak, who serves as the company's executive chairman.

Fresh Grapes LLC, in the process of officially changing its name to Fresh Vine Wine Co., filed an initial registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission last week to sell common stock in its development stage company.

The wine market in the United States is large and competitive. In 2020, the total U.S. retail wine market was $67 billion and there are over 11,000 wineries in the U.S., with more than 4,700 in California alone, according to a report from Statista.

Fresh Vine Wine is taking a capital-efficient strategy to its business, contracting with other companies to produce, bottle and license its wines.

Fresh Vine Wine hopes to find its niche with "better for you" wines that are lower in carbohydrates and calories but are still considered premium wines. The company has contracted with wine production company Fior di Sole, based in Napa, Calif., to produce cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay, pinot noir and rosé wines for its label. Prices per bottle are $15 to $22.

The company sells its wine wholesale and direct to consumer. In the first half of 2021, it generated $500,000 in revenue but lost over $6.5 million.

Janelle Anderson, a former marketing executive at American Airlines and PepsiCo, is the company's chief executive. She joined Fresh Vine Wines in August as chief marketing officer and was named CEO in September.

Novak and related affiliates have provided much of the funding since the company got off the ground in May 2019 and should the IPO be successful, $1.45 million of the proceeds will be used to repay Novak. Remaining proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes.

Golden Valley-based investment bank Oak Ridge Financial is underwriting the offering.