Cheers! Internet Welcomes .WINE and .VIN Domain Names

Wineries, vintners, retailers, and wine aficionados have two new homes on the Internet as Donuts Inc., the largest registry for new "not-com" domain names, announced that the .WINE and .VIN are now available for general registration. The announcement follows an active two month Sunrise period during which more than 1,300 brand owners and trademark holders have already registered .WINE and .VIN domains -- the most active Sunrise period to date for Donuts -- managed new generic top-level domains.

"With more than 38.4 billion bottles of wine produced worldwide annually, it is no surprise that wine is a critical piece of the social fabric of cultures across the globe," said Donuts co-founder and CEO Paul Stahura. "I can't think of a more appropriate community to have its own trustworthy domain names, [enabling] wine connoisseurs and the businesses that serve them to build identities and vibrant communities where commerce and ideas can flow freely."

Sherry.WINE, Champagne.WINE, Champagne.VIN, Prosecco.WINE and Port.WINE are examples of live and active sites focused on wine marketing, sales, education and community building.

"The move to Sherry.WINE was a key component of the Consejo Regulador of the Denominaction de Origen Jerez-Xeres-Sherry's digital strategy for 2015 and beyond," said C�sar Salda�a of the Consejo Regulador, the world's leading sherry association. "Following a complete site redesign, which created a global and multi-lingual platform for the next generation of sherry drinkers, the final piece of the puzzle was finding the perfect domain name."

The availability of these two premier "not-com" domains comes on the heels of a historic 2015 that saw new domain registrations grow by more than 263 percent and a tripling of average monthly domain registrations. Not-coms provide a more descriptive and creative means for domain owners to brand their businesses, products and services.

Wine Industry Adopts Names

The wine industry continued to weigh in on the utility of these new domains:

The Comit� Champagne, the trade body representing all growers and houses of the French wine region of Champagne, declared that "2015 was a fantastic year for Champagne. Not only were our hillsides, houses and cellars added to the UNESCO World Heritage list, but we launched a new online presence on Champagne.VIN and Champagne.WINE. We see .VIN and .WINE as a fantastic way to secure our heritage digitally, uniting the past and present and preparing for the future."

"The Consorzio di Tutela della Denominazione di Origine Controllata Prosecco is very excited about the recent launch of Prosecco.WINE and Prosecco.VIN," said Stefano Zanette, President of the Consorzio. "Although prosecco wine has been known since Roman times, it received its DOC only recently, in 2009. Our new domain names, Prosecco.WINE and Prosecco.VIN, reflect our regions' combination of heritage and youth -- a historic wine name married to the newest and freshest digital extension. Prosecco.WINE and Prosecco.VIN are so short and easy to remember, which means consumers can find us online easier than ever before."

"Our new web addresses, Port.WINE and Porto.VIN, stand out from the crowd," said Alberto Ribeiro de Almeida of the Port and Douro Wines Institute. "Just like our wine itself, our new domains are unique, strong and recognizable all over the world."