I buy (and drink) a lot of wine. I have never been tempted by the Naked Wines 'offer' of £60 off a £100 case of wine, or whatever.
1. I dislike mail order companies that rely on hard sell, and complicated price structures.
2. They are 40% owned by Pieroth. (For those who do not know, Pieroth have been doing door-to-door selling of Germany wines through in-home wine tastings. Their reps tend to have started life as car salesmen or double glazing salesmen. Their wines are unremarkable and hopelessly overpriced.)
3. They have an absolutely awesome web 2.0 plan. You can talk to other people drinking the same wines; you can talk to the winemakers. It's a cult. All credit to them for embracing the best that the web has to offer.
4. The few journalists who have dared to write about them have not been overwhelmed by the wines. But beware, publish negative comments and the Naked Wines cult followers will pile onto you.
5. They have an awesome strategy of dealing with special parcels. Once a week they offer a few hundred cases of a "special parcel" to their customers. These always run out very quickly. The wines often haven't even been made/bottled at the time of sale... and delivery - of a wine that nobody has ever tasted in its finished form - can be several months later. What an awesome marketing tool; drop shipping at its best, no risk for them at all, just a neat profit.
6. They have this 'wine angel' thing. Pay £20 each month by direct debit. They 'invest' this cash in unknown wineries start-ups. That sort of thing. And then you can use the £20 you spend against your next purchases. Or you can ask for the £20 back as it's held in a trust account. So..... if it's held in a trust account, how can they 'invest' it in start-ups?
All in all, the marketing is so slick, I don't trust it. It's even more obfuscatory than the 'half price' wine offers at Tescos.
That said I had a really delicious Manzanilla the other night that had come from them. At £10 per bottle 'angel' price, it's about the right price, but it was really impressive. At the full £14 per bottle price, it's outrageously expensive. www.nakedwines.com/wines/manzanilla-la-jaca-sherry.htm?cid=UK
Anybody use them?
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Can't say I drink alot of wine. I get most wine from majestic wine, never heard of this company.
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I have tried them, twice, with a long interval. I find their trading model confusing and didn't have any real bargains from them. I have used several mail order companies and find Majestic as good as any. My local Majestic branch is only a mile away and sometimes delivers free in an hour or two. It is willing to leave wine in a specified, semi-hidden location if I am out and not many are. Like several others, however, it seems to rely on short-run deals with suppliers, so a wine I like and re-order has often gone for good from their stocks a second or third time round.
The Wine Society used to be excellent, with lavish information sheets and a comprehensive catalogue. It had a fairly good query service although it tended to fall down when it came to less popular wines and types (e.g. Gumpoldskircher, pelure d'oignon - the latter being the onionskin-coloured Provence rosés). It has now gone down market.
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That's a good point majestic are pretty good. I know a few people that use them and are happy with them. Always have nice wine whenever I pop round and have a drink.
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I've only had an introductory pack - never ordered anything else as I dislike the marketing method of their monthly packs sent unless cancelled. Inertia selling par excellence.
I'd rather browse Tesco & Sainsbury for proper offers on stuff I know I'll like.
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I read the title, and thought, aha, I know the answer to this one.
There was an obituary yesterday to Baroness Rothschild, relating the story of the labels representing famous works of art on bottles of, i think, Mouton Rothschild.
One that baron Philippe especially liked was of a naked girl. But there was a furore from prudish Americans, so reluctantly the label had to be changed.
Thereby creating a new demand for bottles with the "genuine" label, not the bowdlerised one.
But that's not the answer wanted after all :)
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I use Naked Wines. I typically buy a case every six months. Delivery is by Parcel Force, who deliver into the evening at no extra charge.
Wine quality can be variable, but they have a few that I really like, so I tend to order a few of those plus a couple of random choices to see what they are like.
Seems cheaper than the likes of Telegraph Wine or whatever.
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I have settled in to a strategy that seems to be working for me.
My local co-op always has three half price wines in bins by the tills. Its usually a 7.99 wine at 3.99. A white, a red, and a something else. (the something else could be a sparklie or a rose)
The wine varies, usually new world or Italian, rarely French. But, I have yet to have a really crap wine - specially at 3.99. And if the "other" bin is a prosecco its a 9.99 one for 5.99. I.ll grab one of those.
Its working for me.
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To be fair the coop has some not bad wines. Trouble is I almost never go into the coop because everything else is so overpriced.
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I used Naked Wines for a couple of years. The game is that it is clearly foolish to pay ~30% more by not being an angel (= a monthly DD) but having the monthly DD obliges you to find stuff to buy. I always thought the "right price" was the angel price, not the supposed full price, a bit like most supermarket offers in that respect.
Some of the wine was pretty average TBH, though we had some good Marlborough sauv. blancs.
Wine marketing is pretty annoying generally, with made up prices and imaginary discounts, and NW have made it an art form.
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Interesting comments. I had one of the introductory offer vouchers which I almost used, but never checked out with. Now they have my details I keep getting better offers through, last weeks was 6 bottles of Rioja for under £20 to cover the tax and shipping which did tempt me, but Mapmakers post puts me off them as a business
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I'm an 'angel'. They don't pester you to buy, though I get regular emails, which I ignore. I only buy when the accumulated balance on my account is enough to cover the case I want and I can spend enough to get free delivery. I feel I am getting better wine for the same amount I used to spend in the supermarket on a couple of bottles a week.
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I think I got some free wine vouchers from Naked Wines when I bought two vacs from Lakeland delivered to myself & gf'. Used one myself to get a case of 6 and gave the other voucher to a friend. The bottles are still gathering dust under my kitchen table. I looked at the website when ordering the 'freebies' and was not impressed. Would swap the 6 bottles for 6 decent pints any day, but my wine knowledge is negligible. I only like Sav Blancs (at the moment) especially NZ Jackson Estate at my local supermarket, although Aldis Gavi is ok after several pints!
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I generally go to Asda and use their 3 for £12 selection....was £10 but all things........ I'll be off tomorrow to stock up but I might call in at the Co-op first to see what's in the bins.
I don't drink a lot of wine but herself likes it as a spritzer so anything will do usually. Dinner guests usually have red, spritzer or beer. Too old to enjoy getting bladdered now !
Although I'm keen on real ale, I've taken to having one of those small continentals, Bavaria or some such from the fridge with me dinner. Just the right amount for me and nice in the recent hot weather.....£3 for 8 or 10 from the Deutchlanders makes them even better !
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Chardonnay or Merlot was my favourite the red wine.You can taste a good wine,not vinegary.
After a few glasses anything taste ok..Somebody gave me a nice bottle of quality wodca,I am tempted but I won't touch it.>:)
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>> Somebody gave me a nice bottle of quality wodca,I am tempted but I won't touch it.>:)
Well look here Dutchman, if you really want it to be out of temptation's way you could always pass it on to someone who will touch it.
Far be it from me to suggest any candidates. But I got through more than usual last night feeling I had an excuse. Now supplies are looking low. I hope more will arrive today. But nothing is guaranteed in this vale of tears.
:o}
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AC... I've never been to Evesham, supposed to be nice. Did you mean vale of pears and got slightly wobbly fingers after using up your lubrication?
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Haven't been to Evesham in years, but there were quite a few farm producers of cider in the area. If your rocket needs fuelling, that's the stuff.
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>>last weeks was 6 bottles of Rioja for under £20 to cover the tax and shipping which did tempt
>>me, but Mapmakers post puts me off them as a business
Curiously that offer landed in my inbox just after I posted this thread. So I couldn't resist it!
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I find Rioja varies so much in different restaurants, maybe it's because I never see the bottle as Mr pda doesn't drink alcohol at all and I couldn't manage a bottle myself over lunch!
Pat
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>> I find Rioja varies so much in different restaurants, maybe it's because I never see
>> the bottle as Mr pda doesn't drink alcohol at all and I couldn't manage a
>> bottle myself over lunch!
I think all wines, even those from a quite specific region or grape vary enormously from brand to brand. If you're drinking by the glass then keeping quality/how long bottle has been open etc. are a factor.
As to drinking at home there are methods of stretching a bottle over more than one meal ranging from simply inserting a cork/stopper to devices that place an inert gas over wine to stop it oxidising.
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>> As to drinking at home there are methods of stretching a bottle over more than
>> one meal ranging from simply inserting a cork/stopper to devices that place an inert gas
>> over wine to stop it oxidising.
b***** that - drink it.
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I wouldn't bother with keeping it for too long, unless it's cooking wine. Id just drink it.
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That's my theory and as I don't 'do' fancy cooking it's best to drink it.
However I do have a little decorum when eating out!
Pat
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Naked Wine - sooty123
