The Chamber of Commerce’s House of Entrepreneurship will celebrate its 10th anniversary this coming October. Over the past decade, it has supported entrepreneurs at every stage of their journey. Some of these entrepreneurs are sharing their stories today, showcasing Luxembourg’s entrepreneurial vitality across numerous sectors, with stories as unique as they are varied. Launched in 2023, FabstWines has already succeeded in bringing together a thriving community of wine lovers around winemakers from many different countries through events, gatherings and tastings… A great success story shared by Fabienne Stanitz, the platform’s founder.
At FabstWines, we wanted to create a platform where we can support winemakers, but also wine lovers, and where we can create a bridge between the taste of consumers, which is changing all the time – depending on the weather, the location, or sometimes the mood of the person, and the work of winemakers, the energy, the effort and the passion they must put into creating a single bottle of wine. We wanted to create a more personal experience by bringing consumers and winemakers closer together. Our platform helps consumers better understand their tastes and the philosophy behind each bottle, while giving winemakers valuable insights into consumer preferences and emerging wine trends.
The platform connects wine enthusiasts with their ideal wine. With our approach, we not only offer personalised recommendations but also provide wine education and foster community connection. We believe that every wine deserves its perfect match. We want to empower everyone to explore new flavors and discover the artistry of winemaking, without feeling intimidated or overwhelmed.
I did my master’s in Hospitality, Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Switzerland. I was working in hospitality and restaurants all my life, and I wanted to create something valuable, with a meaning. It took me some time to really know what I wanted to do. I traveled the world and I found that a lot of wineries are also family businesses who are in their 5th or 6th generation of family business. Growing up in a family with an entrepreneurial father inspired me to create my own company. I aim to support winemakers and help spread their philosophy, passion and craftmanship. I also did the sommelier certificate, which helped me a lot to understand the wine industry. I learned about winemaking and about how, whether it’s sunny, cold or rainy, the quality of the wine is influenced. Most importantly, I learned how each wine has it’s own signature and how to keep it’s taste constant.
I’m from Germany. I was born near Saarlouis. But I left when I was 18 years old. Then I went to London and Dubai and traveled the world to understand the different mentalities and cultures, foods and flavors. Finally, when I decided to create my own business, I saw that Luxembourg has great wines, and the winemakers have a huge potential. And here in Luxembourg, you have an international audience, because a lot of expats from all around the world live here. Luxembourg offers proximity to vineyards, the Moselle is a nice and qualitative wine region, So I thought: let’s support the Luxembourgish wine industry and let’s start the business here.
I had an idea and… I just blindly jumped into this without really thinking much. I had no idea what was coming for me. I didn’t have a team at first, but three years later, we’re a team of 9 people, and we are in five countries – Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Spain and Portugal, and we work with a lot of different winemakers. It’s incredible!
When you start a company, you have a lot of questions, you don’t know what to do, how to start, where to open a bank account…. And, in the beginning, the first 8 months especially, I called the House of Entrepreneurship every week ! I think, what you also underestimate, when you’re the founder of a business, is that you go through so many different states of mind, and your main responsibility is to find solutions for emerging problems! You really become a different person, and you need to have a very healthy mental state to cope with all of it. The House of Entrepreneurship helped me a lot.
To put my laptop and my phone away and stop thinking about work and just relax. It’s fun, because I think if you look at the interviews from the last 3 years, I ’ve always said something different! And these days, the most important thing is to not let work take over your life, but to strike the right balance. And to do that, you need to be able to say no every now and then and not jump at every opportunity you think might be a business opportunity. It’s very important to evaluate the projects and make the right decision and know that you cannot say yes, all the time, for everything. And it’s important to know you cannot finalize everything in a single day, because as an entrepreneur your to-do list is never finished.
The Fabstwines’ team. And the winemakers community! We do a great job together, and we support each other. And of course, to see the platform that I imagine come to life.
It depends on so many things! Is it winter? Summer? How do you feel? The best advice is to try and discover the wines of the place you’re visiting. If you’re in Luxembourg, try Luxembourgish wines; if you’re travelling in Romania, try Romanian wines. You need to try to understand the country, its culture and its winemakers. It’s by taking an interest in the country that you can truly appreciate a good wine from that region.
