Meet Raini Keyser of Vinum55 in North Central Phoenix, North Scottsdale and Chandler

Today we’d like to introduce you to Raini Keyser.

Raini Keyser is the General Manager of Vinum55. Technically, Raini’s beginning in the restaurant industry began at birth – her grandparents owned restaurants in Iowa and she grew up in them. Raini got her start in wine when she moved to Arizona from Kansas City, working for Houston’s Restaurants. In the 14 years that she worked for what is now Hillstone Restaurant Group, Raini managed the bar and wine program at Bandera first, then also for the Houston’s Scottsdale location. She then worked for Tarbell’s, where she completed her Bachelor’s degree, achieved the CSW degree and discovered her true passion for fine wine. While working for Tarbell’s, she had the unique opportunity to taste 1947 Cheval Blanc. It was truly an eye-opening experience, the likes of which many wine enthusiasts are not afforded. With that and the work of studying to achieve her first wine degree, Raini’s passion for wine was born.

Raini has a few wine certifications: Certified Specialist of Wine degree from the Society of Wine Educators, Certified Sommelier from the Court of Masters Sommeliers and WSET 2 from the Wine and Spirits Education Trust. She also has a Bachelor’s degree in Biology. Raini has traveled to several wine regions, and it’s nearly impossible to name a favorite! She’s been to Napa, Sonoma, Willamette Valley, Champagne, Alsace, Sardina, Sicily and Tuscany. Raini has a lifelong goal of traveling to every meaningful wine producing region on the planet. Some of Raini’s favorite wines are from the regions of Champagne, Burgundy, the Rhone, Italy, Oregon, Washington State and California. (In other words, all wine!) It would be nearly impossible for her to name a favorite she feels she will spend the rest of her life learning and working in wine. Raini’s favorite part of working for Vinum55 is the members. There is a beautiful common thread with all the members, and that is a shared love of wine, food and experience. In Raini’s spare time, she loves spending time with her husband and three boys, travel, hiking and yoga.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The road the success at Vinum55 has not always been smooth. Some of the early challenges were finding ways to say yes to our wine collectors and execute our services without prior knowledge or experience. In the beginning, I would use my old Chevy Tahoe to pack up client’s wine collections to move to our facility! Now we’ve grown so much that we have a 55 degree van, a dedicated staff and we service the entire country. Other struggles include learning how to standardize our operations, to create a similar experience at all locations for all clients. This is the life of a start – up company! The good news is that we’ve been able to meet and beat our challenges.

Please tell us about your company.
Vinum55 is a local company with three valley locations in Phoenix, Scottsdale, and Chandler. We are a full service social wine group that offers the Arizona wine community a variety of personalized wine services. Each location offers exclusive members-only events, from private wine tastings with distinguished wine makers to private dining events with some of the best local chefs. Our members are presented weekly with unique wine buying opportunities rarely offered to the public. Each facility features a private tasting room that offers our guests a comfortable and stylish place to sip their wine and socialize with friends and fellow enthusiasts. Vinum55 also offers wine collectors full storage and collection management services, including home cellar management. Each facility is equipped with a temperature and humidity controlled wine cellar built to accommodate collections of any size. We are most proud of the services we offer – and that is also what sets us apart. If a wine collector needs service regarding wine and their collection, our answer is ‘YES!’

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Our plan for the future is to expand to other states with our concepts. It’s very exciting – and we can’t say more than that for now!

Pricing:

• Membership begins at $65/month and varies by location and client needs

Contact Info:

• Address: Vinum55 Phoenix
  6047 N. 16th Street
  Phoenix, AZ 85016

  Vinum55 Scottsdale
  15220 N. 78th Way
  Scottsdale, AZ 85260

  Vinum55 Chandler
  2577 W. Queen Creek Road #112
  Chandler, AZ 85248

• Website: vinum55.com
• Phone: 602-633-1896 (PHX) 602-883-4905 (SCT) 480-477-3920 (CHD)
• Email: info@vinum55.com
• Instagram: @vinum55
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Vinum55AZ

Suggest a story: VoyagePhoenix is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.