F1 News: Valtteri Bottas Reveals New Business Venture Away From Formula 1

Valtteri Bottas launches IHANA

Valtteri Bottas, driver for the Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber (or whatever it's going to be called next year), has announced a new venture into the wine industry with the launch of IHANA, an Australian wine brand. 

Bottas, who started his Formula 1 career in 2013, has a history of diversifying into businesses such as coffee, property, and gin. His latest venture, developed in partnership with Oliver’s Taranga Vineyards, hails from the McLaren Vale region of Australia. 

The Finn's interest in wine, a passion since he was 18, led to this new initiative, demonstrating his multifaceted interests beyond motorsport.

Guiding the 34-year-old driver on the new journey will be a sixth-generation grape grower, Corrina Wright, who has detailed knowledge of Shiraz - a dark-skinned grape variety used to produce Red Wine. Here's what she had to say to the Drinks Business about joining forces with the F1 driver:

“We have been growing Shiraz for a long time so I like to think we’ve kind of got it down.

“Sixty percent of our vineyards are Shiraz, and there’s about 15 different blocks. For this batch Valtteri was involved with making all the wines individually from each block. Then we laid them all out, Valtteri tasted and decided which ones he wanted to put together.

“So, we ended up with a 40-year-old Shiraz block as a base for the wine. All vines are hand-pruned on shallow soils over limestone. The other parcel was a younger block from a different clone that has this ‘mustikka’ (Finnish for bilberry) character.

"He [Bottas] was better than I expected. I thought he might be a bit of a celebrity wino, but he really knows what he’s talking about. We had a great time blending.”

With help from Wright, Bottas began chasing his new venture. Speaking of IHANA, which means 'lovely' or 'wonderful' in Finnish, Bottas said:

“The more I learn [about wine], the more interesting it becomes. I always had this vision that I would like to be involved with wine somehow, and not just investing. It’s my passion.

“In Australia, you can get these super full-bodied, straight-in-your-face kind of wines, but this one has a bit more elegance. Obviously it’s still young so it will take time for it to fully develop.”