Juan Estefan – Entrepreneur, CEO, and Wine Aficionado

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Juan Estefan

How did you get your start in the wine & spirits business?

I’ve been in the liquor industry pretty much my entire adult life. I started up at Bacardi Rum in the marketing department when I was 17 years old and worked with them for 15 years. When I left Bacardi, I worked for Dana Imports, helping them to build the brands in their portfolio. But what happens sometimes — often — is that brands run out of money. So, I left and managed some other rum and vodka brands before opening my own company and brand, JE Wine & Spirits, in 2018. My brand is something that nobody can take away from me, something that I can have and build on my own. Long story short, today I handle 11 liquor brands like Avorza Vodka, etc., and three years ago, I launched 7 y Michi wines.

What inspired the name?

The name 7 y Michi Wines comes from my grandfather; it’s actually a family story. My grandfather was a professional gambler, and he used to play a game very similar to Blackjack, called “Siete Media” in Spanish, or “seven and a half.” When he put down the last card to get seven and a half, Siete Media, he would say “Siete Michi” because it brought him good luck. He said he won like this 60 or 70 percent of the time by saying this. When I was born, he was one of the luckiest gamblers ever — he even bought a house gambling. So, when I was born as Juan Emilio Estefan, he gave me the nickname Michi. I got lucky in life, like he did, because of that nickname; he was an extremely fortunate and very humble person.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Juan Estefan

Where are the wines from?

They’re from Chile, including from the country’s Central Valley. Cabernet, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Rosé, and Sauvignon Blanc so far. They’re in 23 restaurants and about 80 percent of the liquor stores in the Miami-Dade area, distributed by Mexcor Distributor.

What have you learned as an entrepreneur?

It’s all about marketing. I don’t have any investors. I own the brand 100 percent. And with my company, we represent several liquor brands for others that come from another industry. People think that they will launch a vodka or a rum, and it will be easy. But there’s a lot of competition, and you can run out of money quickly in this industry. See, it’s all about the marketing, really.