Naked Wines issues bonds to fund blends

Naked Wines is hoping to raise between £3-5m to support fine wine making in California, Australia and South Africa using bonds which pay interest in cash or wine.

Naked Wines is targeting £3m through bond issue to invest in fine winemakers

The online retailer founded by former Virgin Wines MD Rowan Gormley is renowned for its novel approach to funding winemakers, and currently has 120,000 “angels” – customers who subscribe £20 a month to invest in winemakers, in return for lower prices.

However, this new initiative is focused on top end wines and will see customers invest between £500 and £10,000 to receive annual gross interest of 7% in cash, or 10% in wine credits to spend at Naked Wines.

Called “The Fine Wine Bond”, it has a maturity of three years, at which point bondholders can either receive the total original investment in cash or receive an additional 10% premium if they choose to have the investment credited to a Naked Wines UK account for purchasing wine.

The bond offer opens today (2 September) with a minimum investment of £500 and maximum of £10,000. It will remain open for four weeks, although the company has said that it reserves the right to scale back applications if the issue is subscribed over the maximum subscription of £5 million.

Defining a fine wine as one that needs more than a year to mature and develop from harvesting to reaching the consumer, Gormley said: “Ultimately fine wines require more time to mature, meaning we also need a longer-term source of funding in order to give the winemakers the financial assistance they need.”

Continuing he explained, “Doing it this way means the winemakers can focus on what we want them to do – make great wines – rather than spend their time and money selling.”

Having chosen to invest in top end wines in California, Australia and South Africa, Naked Wines stressed that regions other than Bordeaux and Burgundy, “are capable of producing wines that blind taste tests rate as equivalent or even better than the classic regions”.

Naked Wines will be investing in several winemakers, but three examples of those lined up to take part in the initiative can be viewed over the following pages. Meanwhile, for more about the Fine Wine Bond click here.

1. Ken Deis, Napa Valley, California

The wine Ken Deis plans to make:

“I would love to make a small production Cabernet Sauvignon or high percentage Cabernet blend from mid Napa Valley. I would ferment in small tanks with a processing, fermentation and barrel strategy (20-21 months in at least 50% new French oak barrels) that would bring out the ripe Napa Valley fruit aromas and flavors, deep color and ageable yet soft tannins while yielding a finished wine with balance, complexity and finesse. Also, I’d give the wine time to age and develop in the bottle prior to release.”

2. Sam Plunkett, Strathbogie Ranges, Australia

The wine Sam Plunkett plans to make:

“There is a block of Cabernet in my home region, the cool Strathbogie Ranges, with an unusual combination of soil and water availability that grows freakishly good Cabernet. If we can cover the cost, the grower Grant Taresch, will do anything we ask to maximise the potential of this already good block, and I’d love to have the cash to give this wine the small batch mattention at vintage, then the time in new oak that I know will melevate it from good Cabernet to great! I’d love to get an inky, highly perfumed Strathbogie Cabernet with extraordinary length of flavour to bottle for you!”

3. Carmen Stevens, South Africa

The wine Carmen Stevens plans to make:

“I would love to make a small volume of exceptional South African Chardonnay. A wine that reflects both old and new world characters. Therefore, I would employ both natural and cultivated yeast during the barrel fermentation of the whole bunch pressed fruit. The fruit would be from both cool and warm climatic conditions, this is to capture the ripe yellow fruit out of the warm climate and limey citrus feel of the cooler region. The oak regime would be to add a nutty-aspect and not to overpower the delicate fruit, especially out of the cooler region. All these different aspects will add complexity, depth and a layered effect to this special wine that should be bottle ready in 12 months.”