Naked Wines

Last week I took the plunge and signed up for NakedWines.com (the $180 case of red wines from around the world for $60 and free shipping was too good to pass up). 

For those of you unfamiliar with NakedWines, here's a 66-second video explaining how it works. The long and short: "Angels" (wine club members) pay $40 / month. NakedWines funnels that money to aspiring winemakers, which they use to buy or grow grapes. NakedWines gives winemakers access to bottling and winemaking facilities, and takes care of the marketing and distribution. In return for their investment, Angels get $40 / month worth of wine (a little less than a case / quarter), which is sold at a substantial discount because NakedWines cuts out the wholesaler / distributor tier of the supply chain. For a snapshot of the company's performance, check out pages 20-23 of Majestic Wine's 2016 Annual Report (Majestic, which owes NakedWines, is the UK's largest speciality wine retailer).

(Note: from a legal perspective, I'm not sure exactly how NakedWines is operating (as a winery? retailer? importer?), given that they're UK-based and ship internationally - there wasn't a ton of information online, so if anyone knows about the legal workings I'd be interested to learn!)

Anyways, the purpose of my post: Today I got an email from NakedWines thanking me for my purchase, and explaining how their business works. Thought some might find it interesting to see how they're explaining the three-tier problem to every day consumers:

Hi Tierney,

You are now number 11396 on the list and getting closer to joining our Naked Angels helping to revolutionize the wine industry.

This might come as a shock to you...

...but right now the two most important people in the wine business, you and the winemaker, are getting the worst deal.

Here's the problem:

The wine business in America is controlled by a massive network of middle men.

Almost every state has laws that protect these middle men so that independent winemakers almost have to go through them.

Do the middle men do anything good? Nope.

Their huge buying power allows them to squeeze suppliers to get the lowest prices; bad for the winemaker and bad for independent wine merchants who can't compete on price. It's also not sustainable, suppliers risk going bust.

Is anybody big enough to fight their stranglehold on our winemakers?

Angels are unscrewing the wine industry

The only way to fight a goliath is to come together as one.

Tens of thousands of Americans have already made a stand by signing up to be Naked Angels.

And you're on your way to joining the cause

When you get your wings, you will deposit $40 a month into your Naked piggy bank.

If you do the math, that's currently over $2,000,000 a month coming into Angel funds. Which means we can back talented independent winemakers with confidence.

Good for you, good for the winemaker

By funding winemakers upfront we can remove a huge chunk of cost in the bottle of wine that you pay for, but can't taste. Meaning you get a great price.

And winemakers can secure the best fruit, use the best oak and give the wine the love and care it needs to taste delicious. Meaning you get a great tasting wine.

All safe in the knowledge that a band of Angels is ready and waiting to buy it.

We'll have loads of fun along the way

Another problem with the wine industry is that it takes itself way too seriously. We believe that all you need is a glass and some good friends to enjoy our wines - no pretension required.

Now... let's crack open some great wine and see if we can give those middle men a run for their money.

Cheers,
Rowan, Founder
nakedwines.com

p.s. I think you deserve better than supermarket wine (no matter how fancy the label looks) and I reckon you'll be blown away by the talent of a real winemaker who is given the freedom to care!

Sources:

• https://techcrunch.com/2016/08/13/the-story-of-naked-wines/
• https://us.nakedwines.com/