Ep 199 - Pros and Cons of Naked Wines

Court of Wine

*Note: If you’re just here looking for that offer link Tony mentioned, feel free to skip to the last paragraph.

Have you tried any wine clubs? We've tried a couple wine clubs or club-like retailers and were not thrilled but over the last year we've been testing out Naked Wines. If you've wondered whether a wine club could be valuable and worthwhile, Naked Wines might be your answer.

SPOILER ALERT: At the end of this episode, we're going to share an offer from Naked Wines that they give its members to share the service. You'll get a big discount on wine and we get a little bit too if you sign up, so feel free to consider this episode like advertising. That being said, if you've listened to Weekly Wine Show for any length of time, you know we have only accepted advertisements for a couple of episodes. We're extremely picky about what brands we represent and we need to be willing to spend our own money on that item or service if there's a chance our words would influence others to do the same. And in fact, over the last year or so, we've sent over $500 of our own money the way of Naked Wines, and now we're ready to tell you about our experience.

So what is Naked Wines and how does it work?

Naked Wines is a "customer-funded wine business". Club members, who they call "angels" pay a deposit of $40 per month in their naked wines account. This money sits in the Angels' account as a balance until they use it to purchase wines. But while it's there, Naked Wines uses it to fund winemakers up-front to be able to make wines, many wines which otherwise might never be.

The interesting part of this funding model is many winemakers work for other people and don't get to put their name on the label. They may not have the funds to invest in their own grapes, barrels, storage, and all the other costs involved in making wine, much less their cost of living while those wines are being made.

The situation might be even a bit dire, like the story of winemaker Katie Jones. If you want to hear more about her story check out the video from Naked Wines.

So far, according to their website, they have funded 159 independent winemakers in 14 countries. These direct relationships with winemakers results in lower costs for us because they benefit from economics of scale for buying wine bottling supplies. Also, since they're the considered the winery, there isn't the markup from a distributor and a retailer. They call it "wholesale prices".

So what do we like about Naked Wines?

First of all, you pick the wine you get, how much, and when (Not like other clubs that send to you on schedule). You order this wine from your house (you don't even have to put pants on) making it super convenient. Second, these are real, top-quality winemakers, some we've actually met or been to their "day job" winery. Also, there are a wide range of wines from all across the globe and pretty affordable prices like a Premier Cru Chablis ($24) and a vintage Champagne ($35). The wines overall have been top quality and of all the wines we've try there has only been a couple of wines we didn't love. They'll also let you know what wines to age so we have several bottles sitting in the cellar waiting for the right time to drink.

Another feature that makes Naked Wines unique is the money-back happiness guarantee. They will refund you for any wine you didn't love. We actually haven't taken the initiative to use this for the couple of bottles that weren't to our taste, but even so they proactively gave us an $11 refund to highlight the guarantee and encourage us to use it. They want happy customers.

Lastly, you're positively impacting winemakers, giving them a chance to make wines with their own name on the bottle or maybe to make something lesser known that wouldn't fit with their day employer's winery. Also, there website allow us to interact with winemakers and read their stories.

What don't we like about Naked Wines?

To start, when we signed up in late 2018, we were required to buy a case of wine in order to join. That first case we bought with the promotional offer was priced at their non-member price. This felt a bit deceptive and we almost didn't join. After a few weeks, they gave us the option to buy a smaller 9-bottle pack so we didn't have to invest as much money just to give them a try. Once we bought that first case, they put us on a "waiting list" to get into the club. We don't remember a believable explanation for why there was a waiting list, it seemed like an attempt to fake exclusivity.

Also, they send emails about promotional packs that feel a bit spammy and over time you learn to give them a glance and archive or delete them. We imagine some people like the promotional packs, they just haven't been appealing to us.

Before deciding to do this episode we also looked up naked wines on the Better Business Bureau. They have an A+ rating from the BBB, but only get 2 out of 5 stars from customer reviews. There were several pages of reviews and the vast majority seem to be people who somehow don't realize they will be charged $40 per month and were unhappy with it despite the fact you can get your money back or people who are unhappy with their wines and didn't take advantage of the happiness guarantee.

What are some tips for getting the most value?

First, if you are struggling to find wine they have wine advisors you can call. Once you start receiving wine make sure you are rating the wines you try because this feeds into their recommendations. It also helps to follow winemakers you like in the app or the website so you can get updates on when they release new wines.

Also, every month they offer a free promotional bottle (one they choose) to compete a case if you order any 11 bottles of your choice. So make sure to buy 11 bottles at a time do you get the free bottle. If the promotional bottle doesn't appeal to you, check the other options in their bottle picker.

If all else fails, use that happiness guarantee. Get you money back and pick out something different. Like I said, they want to make you happy.

If you're in the same boat we were in and want to try out Naked Wines, you can get $100 off $160 purchase for new members using our link. Remember, if you become a member they will be investing $40 a month into Angel account to use to purchase wine. If you sign up we receive $40 in credits to buy more wine and support our hobby. So this is a win - win - win situation. Cheers!