The Gifted Cork

What The Gifted Cork does

The Gifted Cork, also doing business as The Gifted Cork & Gourmet, is a privately held wine and gift boutique founded in 2009 and operating from a single storefront at 64-A Hypolita Street in the historical district of St. Augustine, Florida. The company sells over 500 wine labels sourced from 13 countries, alongside craft cheeses, gourmet treats, custom gift baskets, wine accessories, and unique gifts and wall decor. It also operates daily themed wine tastings at $10 per person and a weekday happy hour offering $2 off wine by the glass.

The business is pure direct-to-consumer retail and hospitality with no e-commerce or digital ordering channel; all transactions occur in the physical storefront. Customer acquisition is driven by walk-in foot traffic from tourists visiting St. Augustine's historic district and local residents, supplemented by in-store events, themed tastings, and a guest book email signup for promotions. Pricing is straightforward retail, with half-case and full-case purchase discounts on wine and modest ancillary spend on tastings and souvenir glasses.

The technology footprint is minimal, consisting of a WordPress website built on the Themovation Eatery theme. The company employs 51 people, has no disclosed venture capital or private equity backing, no subsidiaries, and no public listing. There are no documented leadership changes, M&A activity, partnerships, or funding events; revenue figures are not publicly disclosed.

Name

The Gifted Cork

Legal name

The Gifted Cork

Website

https://thegiftedcork.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

The Gifted Cork & Gourmet is a privately held wine and gift boutique in St. Augustine, Florida's historic district, retailing 500+ wine labels from 13 countries alongside craft cheeses, custom gift baskets, and wine accessories to tourists and local consumers through daily in-store tastings and single-storefront retail.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Wine Retail

NAICS

Beer, Wine, and Liquor Retailers (4453), Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Retailers (459420)

akta.pro primary industry

Premium, Rare & Collectible Alcohol Retail (Fine Wine/Spirits) (CRANAAAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Alcohol Gift, Basket & Specialty Packaging Retail (CRANABAG), Gift Sourcing & Procurement (Local & Online) (HSACANAB)

Keywords

• Wine retail
• Gift boutique
• Wine tastings
• Custom gift baskets
• Gourmet cheeses

Headquarters

HQ city

St. Augustine

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Wine Sales: Retail sales of individual wine bottles and case purchases (discounts offered for half cases and full cases). Core revenue driver for the business.
2. Wine Tastings: Guided tasting events at $10 per person for four wines from nine featured options. Souvenir wine glass sales for $3. Credit of $5 toward bottle purchase if customer buys wine.
3. Gourmet Products: Sales of gourmet treats, craft cheeses, and specialty food items.
4. Gift Baskets and Accessories: Custom gift baskets and wine accessories including wall decor and unique gifts.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

The Gifted Cork is a wine and gift boutique that retails over 500 wine labels sourced from 13 countries, complemented by in-store themed wine tastings, craft cheeses, custom gift baskets, and wine accessories. The business combines a retail storefront with hospitality experiences (daily tastings, happy hour service, special events) from a single physical location in St. Augustine, Florida's historical district.

Product overview

The Gifted Cork is a wine and gift boutique offering a unified retail and hospitality experience. The core offering centers on retail wine sales across 500+ boutique labels from multiple countries, complemented by in-store wine tasting events (daily themed tastings at $10 and weekly Happy Hour pricing), craft cheese retail, custom gift basket assembly, and wine accessories. The business operates from a single location in St. Augustine, Florida's historic district, with products organized by region and theme. All offerings are sold through the physical storefront; there is no digital product or software platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Wine Tastings by Theme
• Happy Hour Wine Service
• Boutique Wine Retail
• Craft Cheeses
• Custom Gift Baskets
• Wine Accessories
• Gifts and Wall Decor
• Special Events

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights2 records

Direct peers

• Wine Access: Online boutique wine retailer offering curated, small-production wines to enthusiasts with tasting notes and food pairings. Directly comparable on premium/boutique wine curation targeting enthusiast collectors, though delivered digitally rather than through a physical boutique.
• Wine.com: Largest online wine retailer in the U.S. with deep selection across regions and varietals. Directly comparable on product (premium and boutique wine assortment) and target customer (collectors and enthusiasts), with the alternative go-to-market of e-commerce vs. The Gifted Cork's brick-and-mortar.
• Sherry-Lehmann: Iconic New York premium wine merchant operating from a single flagship store with curated international assortment and personalized service. Closely analogous to The Gifted Cork as a destination boutique wine retailer focused on connoisseur-level selection.
• Vom Fass: Specialty retailer of premium spirits, oils, vinegars, and wines sold via tasting and refill format in small boutique storefronts. Closely comparable on the tasting-driven, experiential, giftable-product retail model that The Gifted Cork uses.
• Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant: Berkeley-based boutique wine importer and retailer known for small-production French and Italian wines and a strong tasting-room culture. Directly comparable on curation philosophy, regional depth, and tasting-led customer experience.

Broad incumbents

• Total Wine & More: Largest U.S. wine and spirits specialty retailer with broad assortment and aggressive pricing. Comparable as the dominant scaled player in the same retail category, though it operates a high-volume superstore model rather than The Gifted Cork's curated boutique format.
• Binny's Beverage Depot: Leading Chicago-area wine, beer, and spirits retailer with multiple locations and a deep selection. Comparable as a multi-format specialty beverage retailer, though at significantly larger scale and broader assortment than The Gifted Cork.
• Spec's Wines, Spirits & Finer Foods: Large Texas-based wine and spirits superstore chain with a wide assortment and food pairings. Operates in the same retail category but at much greater scale and a more value-oriented positioning than The Gifted Cork's boutique approach.

Others

• Wine Enthusiast Companies: Wine media, accessories, and storage/retailer brand with a broad enthusiast audience. Adjacent peer: shares the wine enthusiast customer base with The Gifted Cork but monetizes through media and accessories rather than boutique retail.

Emerging players

• Drizly: Online alcohol delivery marketplace (now part of Uber) that ships beer, wine, and spirits directly to consumers. Comparable as an alternative convenience-driven purchase channel for the same customers The Gifted Cork serves, and a key competitive threat given The Gifted Cork's lack of DTC/delivery.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-gifted-cork

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Gifted Cork