Prior to the company’s incorporation, Luis Mora had his hands full with wine related ventures. His love for wine was initially kindled by his engagement in a wine company in the late 90’s. To satisfy his interest in wine, he worked as a Sommelier of various upscale restaurants in Orange County. His interaction with other wine lovers and customers of these restaurants fueled his fascination towards wines.
Being a wine lover himself, Mora went to purchase a refrigerator for his collections. It was then that he found out that such items were not available to easily purchase at that time. After extensive research, he was able to locate a company to sell him a wine cooler. That company was located 3,000 miles away in New York. Yet house guests, friends and family loved his wine cooler and wanted one for their own use. And a business idea was born.
Mora was able to purchase more wine coolers from the manufacture and resold them to clients in California. WineCooler.net was his new business that grew quickly after Mora made more contacts with home owners and restaurants that were in need of yet more space to house their wine collections.
His natural inclination for innovation and his desire to be the originator and provider for his new found market won him over. He went back to researching to find solutions for his new clients which led him to a Los Angeles wood maker. That partnership was the foundation of Grotto Custom Wine Cellars and the creation of high quality hand crafted wine racks and cellars at an affordable cost.
Mora started with a small garage in Los Angeles to manufacture wine racks which had to quickly expand. The venture continued to increase and a good relationship with wine stores and wine lovers was established. They opened the business for clients nationwide, which also resulted in their need to recruit Mexico craftsmen for the quality of wood work they deliver. All Grotto products are now achieved through the time-honored tradition of old-world quality, hand-made workmanship and attention to detail.
The continuous growth of the business has reached over 120 employees in the last six years. Grotto Custom Wine Cellars continues to grow as they also expand their offerings from not only wine racks and cellars but also a variety of new and exciting wine accessories.
With the continuously growing wine industry, Luis Mora’s fascination with wines will surely continue to ferment as satisfying as the wines being held by the wine racks and cellars Grotto creates and offers its growing number of clients.