We first got hipped to Naked Wines through one of Kath’s myriad Internet specials. Originally a U.K.-based wine incubator designed to shoulder the marketing responsibilities for small-production winemakers, allowing them to do what they do best, Naked has made converts of us.
Offering a Web-based special of a full case of juice from all over the globe, crafted by experienced vintners who are perhaps fatigued of churning out product for bigger labels, Naked Wines has yet to disappoint us, a pair avowedly New World-centric (and West Coast USA, at that) in our palate preferences.
Our first case was, literally, all over the map. French Minervois; blends from Spain, Chile and Portugal; as well as small production lots sourced from Lodi, Napa, Sonoma and Monterey: around the world in weighty ways. And we were hooked: Kathy and I had both been put off in the past by a lot of Old World wine at reasonable (OK, low) price points; their rusticity and rough edges didn’t jibe with our (OK, my) need for approachability in a wine.
But from that first sip of Minervois to the final gulp of South American Carmenere, we knew that Naked invested in passionate winemakers we could trust. The vintners, freed from business constraints, could hook up with a responsible custom-crush-and-marketing mechanism. And said small engine could combine business savvy, a unique biz model and international consumer tentacles to, literally, pass the savings on.
To paraphrase the Los Angeles crack dealer in the alley off Franklin Avenue, across from my beautiful Hollywood Tower apartment, speaking to a neighbor years ago: “Hey baby, the first one’s free.”
But I digress. The “Naked” model (and the semi-provocative moniker is meant to, like that of chef Jamie Oliver, connote transparency, exuberance and simplicity) seeks to form an all-inclusive pool of worldwide “Angels”: investors who contribute $40 per month to their own wine account. Then, as banks used to do back in the day, Naked Wines invests these funds in their select group of winemakers, freeing them up just to do their thang. As Angels, one’s funds are still in their personal account to spend on the wine, with prices discounted some 40%.
Kath and I went all in. And then, two months later, with $80 in our Angel account, we found out that Naked Wines was opening a physical presence of winemaking facility and tasting room in the Sonoma burg of Kenwood.
These particular Angels may not have wings, but as long as the Prius holds out, we’ll be flying up to the Valley to rescue souls, even if the only two are our own.
Y’all, what a perfect New World outpost this location is for the U.K. vanguard’s arrival, escaping to Cali climes. And how nice was it for an ex-pat Canuck and a Washington state alumna to sip, sun and shade.
A gorgeously welcoming tasting room, although the tree-canopied brick patio ringed by mature vineyards kinda obviates bellying up to the well-appointed bar inside; a full custom-crush winemaking operation with all the toys, including oak barrels (your Angel dollar$ at work!), and a client list of vetted winemakers that keeps on growing (Karmically, it’s sorta cool to see that it’s not just the consumer who has to wait for a spot on the mailing list for a hot winemaking operation); and a staff that definitely knows their shi-ite from a list of three dozen global selections: Naked is the real deal.
So much keepin’ it real that Rowan Gormley, Naked founder (dare we say “The Nude Dude”?), late of an online beverage concern that became part of Richard Branson’s Virgin Wines, yet another Lego snapped onto the amalgam, was the gent strolling out to our table on said patio to pour us our Grenache Rosé from Navarra, Spain.
Check out Kath’s photo: Rowan (at right) uses the “thief” to hook us up with some young red in the winemaking facility. Yep, the Naked founder, newly relocated to Cali, takes the time to lead a few folks on a tour of the newly “Nude” digs.
Yep, we gladly spent our Angel bucks, draining the account. Then spent some more. Kathy and I rolled back home with two cases costing what might have bought us six individual bottles at the neighbors’ joints.
Man, it’s the kind of joint that you want to visit weekly, California highway tolls be damned.
And then, Rowan, the newly transplanted frickin’ founder of this enterprise, after taking us on das tour, invites us to “have a bit of lunch” with his fam at an adjacent table.
Damn you, Naked Wines: You draw a very crisp pencil line between stakeholder and stalker. We will see you soon.
OK, ya think I just crossed that 2H Ticonderoga pencil line?
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