A delicious glass of fine wine at half the price? Sign me up! U.K.-based company, Naked Wines is not only offering some of the finest wines from around the world at half off, but helps democratize the winemaking process by investing in talented independent winemakers in the global marketplace.
“When you spend $50 on a bottle of delicious Napa Cab, you are spending about $7 on wine,” the website says. “And $43 on sales, marketing and other stuff you can’t taste.”
Here’s how it works — Customers pay the company $40 a month. Naked Wines then uses the monthly payments to hire winemakers to craft wine exclusively for the site. The bottles are then available on Naked Wines’ website at a 40 to 60 percent discount of what they would cost at retail. The customer can use his/her investment money to buy any of the wines online. If a purchase goes over the investment, the discount remains for as long as the customer contributes.
After users test a wine, they are welcome to post feedback on the website, where an easy to read percentage out of how many reviewers is placed next to each wine selection.
This January sees the expansion of the company stateside in Napa, Calif.
So far, 25 California winemakers are working with Naked Wines, including Randall Grahm of Bonny Doon Vineyard and Robin Langton, formerly of Patz and Hall.
Naked Wines was founded in 2008 by Rowan Gormley, a South African born entrepreneur who also founded Virgin Wines and Virgin Money. After leaving Virgin Wines, he launched the startup, bringing 15 of his teammates with him as founding partners of the new company.
Source: Forbes
