I recently came across an article on Nakedwines.com, which is a site that allows unknown winemakers to produce their wines through crowdfunding. The idea is that people can support these winemakers who are not affiliated with a wine label, and in return the supporters will receive a portion of the wine at an extremely discounted price. According to nakedwines.com: "By funding winemakers upfront we're able to remove a huge chunk of costs that in a traditional wine business would be passed on to you, the customer. Costs like sales and marketing. It also means the winemaker can spend more time in the vineyard and less in the office. Which means the wines taste better. It's a win, win."
NakedWines recently raised over $10mm in their latest funding round, which is impressive and seems like a big number for such a niche market. However, similar to the logic discuss in Emily's latest post, I'd be hesitant to try a wine from NakedWines unless I was familiar with the winemaker's story, had already tried their wines in the past, or received a recommendation from a friend. I've just had too many disappointing experiences of blindly grabbing an unknown bottle of wine from the grocery store shelves and feeling let down. When a winemaker is connected to a specific brand, its easier to predict the quality level of wine because its connected to the overall reputation of the winery. Without a brand name or winery backing the work of these winemakers, its much more of a gamble.
I'm personally all about supporting small businesses and people getting started in new endeavors, but am not yet sold on the NakedWines concept. I'm curious to see if anyone in the class has tried NakedWines, and if not, whether its something they'd ever consider testing out.
Here's their website: https://us.nakedwines.com/angels
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