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The folks at Nakedwines.com, a British online wine retailer that recently launched in the United States, say they have some bad news for wine lovers.
“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.”
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In short, it’s the whole middleman thing. And Naked Wines has set out to change this category that’s so frequently associated with outrageous markups. How? By positioning themselves as a one-of-a-kind love child of crowdfunding, Costco, and a wine club all in one.
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Here’s how it works:
– Customers (Naked Wines calls them angels) pay the company $40 a month for however long they wish.
– Naked Wines uses the $40 monthly payments to hire winemakers to make 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.
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.
Of course, if you’re buying in singles, Naked Wines probably won’t be worth the monthly fee. But for those case-mongers out there, check out the website and see what you think.
(Via: Tasting Table)
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