Naked Wines - comments and experiences

[surfnwine]

Hi all,

I recently ended up with a $100 gift card for Naked Wines. It seems that they are also offering an additional $50 my first order of a six-pack. Perhaps I can also get three free bottles for signing up to their angels club (with the full intent on opting out asap!)

That would mean 12 or 15 bottles for around $50.

I've never heard of this mob before; does anyone know is the wine is any good? I guess due to the nature of the apparent project it will likely be hit and miss at best. However, if the consensus is to stay away ... then I'll probably leave it.

Would love to hear anyone else experiences with these guys (I tried a search but it brought up nothing).

(I'm sure you won't need it, but webaddress is: https://www.nakedwines.com.au/ )

 

[Steady]

Naked Wines don't appeal to me, that said one of my staff is an angel and loves their particular business model. She has not had any issues with purchasing or delivery etc

 

[Glider_]

I purchased a mixed case with their generous sign up offers, but unfortunately I didn't like the majority of the wines that arrived.

Now I'm sticking with deals from VinoMofo on the back of opinions of our in-house AFF wine buffs on that thread. Much better success rate for me so far, regardless of price.

 

[surfnwine]

Thanks Steady and Glider for your comments.

I purchased a mixed case with their generous sign up offers, but unfortunately I didn't like the majority of the wines that arrived.

Now I'm sticking with deals from VinoMofo on the back of opinions of our in-house AFF wine buffs on that thread. Much better success rate for me so far, regardless of price.

Hmm... this is exactly what I was scared of. I really only wanted to make use of it for a mixed case - as despite filling my cellar with great offers from VM, Grays, and elsewhere I now have a stack of 11 bottle hauls (after cracking the first open I don't particularly want to touch again for 6 months onwards...).

In the meantime, I'm trying to try as many different varietals as I can find - and I thought this could be cheap way to buy a mixed case and tick a couple off. Perhaps not...

 

[AnonymousCoward]

You're either taking "pot luck" with Naked Wines (aka any wine maker with a solid reputation probably doesn't need to sell through Naked Wines unless they choose to), or you need to research every wine maker to find out whether they'll make stuff you want. You might end up buying a bunch of ordinary stuff, plus uncover a few diamonds in the rough. Or maybe not.

 

[penegal]

I have never purchased from them, but have heard enough that I will steer clear. Whilst their offers do look attractive on first glance, you are largely buying wine labels which you aren't familiar with. I have too much plonk, so am starting to focus my buying a lot more.

 

[samh004]

I'm an 'Angel' but have my membership on hold as I have money issues at the moment but I think I've only had one wine that I didn't like, and it was organic, go figure! Haven't tried everything they've sent me, but some are quite drinkable for cheap deals.

 

[surfnwine]

Thanks everyone for input. I really appreciate it.

These guys annoyed me last night when I discovered that the alleged $100 off voucher was't actually a voucher at all (let's call it a flyer). If you sign up without any voucher, you actually get the same level of discount as a higher 'sign-up' bonus. To me, that seems like deceptive conduct, so I will be staying clear.

Seems like the safest option given the general consensus.

 

[redbigot]

I purchased a mixed case with their generous sign up offers, but unfortunately I didn't like the majority of the wines that arrived.

Now I'm sticking with deals from VinoMofo on the back of opinions of our in-house AFF wine buffs on that thread. Much better success rate for me so far, regardless of price.

Same here.
I picked wines from good winemakers I knew from other wines.
Good winemakers can still make quite ordinary wine.

 

[mini2]

Their prices are all over the place, I recall having bought a case for $35 then the next one for $50 and the whole signup to Angel and get another 3 bottles deal never worked anyway. Their wines are quaffer spec and if it's $100 a case, I'd take my chances with VM instead.

 

[sigmadelta]

Their prices are all over the place, I recall having bought a case for $35 then the next one for $50 and the whole signup to Angel and get another 3 bottles deal never worked anyway. Their wines are quaffer spec and if it's $100 a case, I'd take my chances with VM instead.

Agreed. That kind of subscription model doesn't work for me, at least with producers that I don't know.
Any company would be hard pressed to mass produce mixed cases that please every palate. If you could pick bottles for a mixed case based on a likeness database, tuned for the individual using examples of what they like (a bit like pandora for wine) then that might work. Could be a challenge for inventory management.

 

[Whining&dining]

I would steer well clear of them, if you google their name you will find that the same business model has been tried all over the globe and they have in fact been the subject of scrutiny by the ASA in the UK https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2012/01/naked-wines-ad-banned/ I personally found the whole experience of dealing with them annoying to put it mildly, I bought one case (mixed) and can honestly say hand-on-heart that none of the wines were outstanding in any way. Having not made a repeat order they continued to badger me via email for an indecent period of time until I contacted them and asked them to cease and desist on no uncertain terms. Be warned....

 

[Tannin]

Don't want to hijack this thread, but could the same be said of Glug? Different business model but same situation of unknown wines at cheap prices. Never tried their wines to make my own judgement.

 

[Whining&dining]

Ahhh Glug! I stumbled across Glug some years ago on-line and thought great, a small distributor selling boutique and 'garagista' wine that will offer a different experience to the biggies like GWD etc. I read the hype surrounding the small-run, think outside-the-box wineries and ordered a mixed case of reds admittedly none of which I had ever heard of. When it arrived I cracked upon the contents (progressively over a week or two) and they were barely drinkable! Some of the bottles contents were cloudy and almost like un-fined grape must, beyond faulty... The others were intriguingly labelled, had a number of different closures and different bottle styles but were all lacking in a variety of ways-bitterly disappointed.....

 

[Whining&dining]

Never tried their wines to make my own judgement.

I'd love to hear from someone else who has! They're still around quite a few years later so SOMEONE likes them

 

[junbugging]

Ahhh Glug! I stumbled across Glug some years ago on-line and thought great, a small distributor selling boutique and 'garagista' wine that will offer a different experience to the biggies like GWD etc. I read the hype surrounding the small-run, think outside-the-box wineries and ordered a mixed case of reds admittedly none of which I had ever heard of. When it arrived I cracked upon the contents (progressively over a week or two) and they were barely drinkable! Some of the bottles contents were cloudy and almost like un-fined grape must, beyond faulty... The others were intriguingly labelled, had a number of different closures and different bottle styles but were all lacking in a variety of ways-bitterly disappointed.....

I've ordered several thousand dollars worth dating back to 2008... If you're seriously claiming you found every single bottle in a mixed dozen "lacking" and "barely drinkable"... Well, then, all the more for me, I guess.

 

[Whining&dining]

Unfortunately that was indeed the case, and shocking to relate but true but then what would I know, I've only been buying and drinking wine for 37 or so years....

 

[redbigot]

Ahhh Glug! I stumbled across Glug some years ago on-line and thought great, a small distributor selling boutique and 'garagista' wine that will offer a different experience to the biggies like GWD etc. I read the hype surrounding the small-run, think outside-the-box wineries and ordered a mixed case of reds admittedly none of which I had ever heard of. When it arrived I cracked upon the contents (progressively over a week or two) and they were barely drinkable! Some of the bottles contents were cloudy and almost like un-fined grape must, beyond faulty... The others were intriguingly labelled, had a number of different closures and different bottle styles but were all lacking in a variety of ways-bitterly disappointed.....

David Farmer started discounted wine selling (Farmer Bros) in Canberra back in about 1975/1976 after retail price maintenance was outlawed in the TPA.

He's had a few different stints in various part of the wine industry since Farmer Brothers went bust, eventually moving to the Barossa and starting Glug.

I've bought a lot of Glug red wines over the years, mostly to share with friends as quaffers. There have been some very good wines amongst them, some fairly ordinary, one or two faulty, but mostly good honest wines worth the asking price if you know what to look for. His hype with high/low prices is annoying, but no more so than many other merchants.

 

[Whining&dining]

There have been some very good wines amongst them, some fairly ordinary, one or two faulty, but mostly good honest wines worth the asking price if you know what to look for. His hype with high/low prices is annoying, but no more so than many other merchants.

I obviously got a bad selection but wasn't prepared to stick around to repeat the experience especially when there are so many better deals to be had elsewhere (but point taken)...

 

[Simsy85]

Wow I've gotta say i'm surprised by this thread.

I'm a Naked member and love it. Yeah you get some **** wines every now and then - you use the app, click thumbs down and they refund your money - much simpler than getting a refund out of VA or QF.

They are based on an Angel investor method - you put money up ($40) every month. It goes into an account and they use it as capital to fund new/emerging wine makers. Naked buys things like bottles/labels in bulk and provides it to the winemaker. They also provide (I believe) start up capital etc.

Some of them are old hands for big labels (like Daryl Groom, fmr Penfolds Grange chief) or children of established wine makers (like Jen Pfeiffer from Rutherglen Pfeffiers).

Risk wise? You can withdraw your full amount at anytime and given they refund wine you don't like. The app is 'smart' - it works out your likes and dislikes and based on that makes recommendations, based on *other* users experiences who like what you like.

I've bought maybe 6 or 7 cases from them so far.

My latest wine delivery came into the office - two cases from Eden Road, one from Naked and a 6 pack of museum wine from Langton's:



As for the discount code - yeah it's a gimmick - cause you know, no other company has ever done that...

They give me a code which I could post here which then gets you and me a referral bonus, so they are into that.

My suggestion - give it a try - PM me and i'll give you a code for a discount.