Naked Wines is a community-funded online wine retailer founded in 2008 by Rowan Gormley that connects wine drinkers directly with independent winemakers through a unique crowdfunding model. Members, known as Angels, contribute a monthly amount that is pooled together to fund talented winemakers, who in return produce exclusive wines sold to Angels at significant discounts, typically 40-60% below retail prices. This model eliminates traditional wine distribution markups and provides winemakers with guaranteed funding.
The platform features wines from over 200 independent winemakers across regions including California, Oregon, Washington, Australia, France, Italy, Spain, Argentina, and New Zealand. Each wine on the platform includes customer ratings, detailed winemaker profiles, and the backstory behind the production. Naked Wines community-driven approach means that wines with consistently low ratings are discontinued, ensuring quality is maintained through genuine customer feedback. Non-members can also purchase wines at regular retail prices, though the best value is reserved for Angel members.