Around The World With Naked
Wine is nothing if not an international phenomenon that has brought people together for millennia. But, it is not just the social side that wine allows you to engage with. It allows you to engage with culture, taste and terroir from the comfort of your own home.
We see it as a sensory exploration on a global scale. It’s your quickest, and likely best value, way of exploring a little of each country.
Naked take this a step further. They have the wine from all over, but they also work directly with the winemakers. It isn’t a faceless bottle with an unknown team behind it, it’s a wine community that communicates, bringing you, the consumer, together with the winemakers. You can understand more about the wine, the thought process and what makes the wine so uniquely from its own country.
I’ve picked a few top-quality wines and winemakers that are much loved by the Naked Angels from popular and lesser-known winemaking countries.
Stop One: The Valleys of Chile
Constanza Schwaderer is one of Naked’s most popular Chilean winemakers. She had a cushy job in one of Chile’s big wineries, but was sacked when she tried to promote a small group of independents. She chose quality over quantity and now is able to make her own for Naked!
She champions Chile’s own varieties, giving them a well-deserved spotlight. Chile is stuck in the industry as a country known for value and cheap and cheerful wines, but the truth is there is some good, interesting stuff out there. This is a good place to start.
My wine of choice for Chile is the Kimbao Carmenere. A country largely known for inexpensive Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, Chile boasts a whole host of local varieties including Pais, Muscat of Alexandria (not strictly local but very old plantings brought from settlers) and Tintoreras. There’s even Riesling and Gewurztraminer to find. But Carmenere is probably the most famous of Chile’s grapes.
This wine hails from Colchagua Valley which has cooling influences coming from both the Andes and Pacific ocean. In particular, Carmenere from here has a reputation for making ripe and well-structed wines. The Kimbao is made without oak, allowing the grape to really shine. It is fresh, relatively light and very juicy with a nice spiced note coming on the end. It is expressive, yet soft making it a great Carmenere intro wine.
Stop Two: The Sun-Soaked Vineyards of Australia
Adam Barton got into winemaking in 2001, working for iconic brands such as Wynns Coonawarra and Bonny Doon before beginning his own venture in 2008. He joined the Naked family in 2012 and now makes exclusive gems just for their customers. All the grapes in his wines come from his own vineyards and local growers with whom he has partnerships over 10 years long. This is Aussie winemaking made to support the whole industry and get the best fruit for the best wine.
One of Australia’s most iconic wine regions, Barossa Valley is as large as its reputation. The warm climate offers ideal conditions for full-bodied, ripe, juicy reds. However, producers with a real knowledge of the region pick parcels from different subregions to blend a complex mixture of fruit for exceptional wines.
The Rabbit and Spaghetti Shiraz is a perfect example of using Barossa to its full potential. With grapes from the subregions of Kalimna (riper, intense fruit) and Ebenezer (known for tannin and structure), this is a perfect blend of intense fruit flavour and full-bodied Barossa. It’s a thick wine with blackberry, plum, tobacco, mocha, dark chocolate, vanilla and a little star anise. Powerful and with a long finish.
Stop Three: The Kings of Spain
Franck Massard is the happy story of sommelier turned winemaker. In 2004 he moved to Priorat and began making wines from this epic region. He was actually recommended by Benjamin Darnault, one of Naked’s biggest French winemakers.
So, you guessed it. The wine I’ve chosen is from Priorat. The wine history here, both medieval and modern, is legendary. Carthusian monks kicked things off in the 12th century despite the challenging hot climate, lack of access and difficult topography - winemaking here is no easy feat. Yet, it is Spain’s most renowned wine region. That’s right, it isn’t really Rioja at all!
The traditional grape varieties here are Garnacha and Carinena which are well adapted to the extremely hot climate. Older vines are trained as small bush vines in low densities to reduce water and nutrient competition. The result is small, highly concentrated berries that make fabulous wines.
This is a Garnacha dominant blend, hand-made in small batches and aged in oak. The result is rich, complex and elegant. Despite the power, it is beautifully balanced, straddling an expert line between big and soft. This is one to keep for a number of years if you fancy some development.
Stop Four: Italy’s Campanian Coast
The winemaker I’m showcasing isn’t solely based in Campania, but, I realised I was lacking white recommendations and he makes an excellent one from here. The man is a bit of Naked heritage really who seems to be behind all manner of bestsellers.
Christian Patat trained in Burgundy and Priorat before becoming a go-to consultant. Now, he travels all over Italy helping budding winemakers craft some truly brilliant wines. Naked has a huge number of wines with his name on it and many of them are bestsellers.
Greco di Tufo wines are popping up more and more, but are still on the lower rungs of the recognisable wine region scale. Located in Campania, the Greco di Tufo DOCG makes delicious wines from Greco (introduced by the ancient Greeks), on hilly terrain with limestone and clay soils (as in Sancerre, Chablis and Burgundy).
Christian ferments it longer than usual, bringing extra richness and aromatic complexity. It is filled with stone fruit, citrus, almond and a nice herbaceous twist. It has a slightly oily texture and plenty of floral aromas as well. It’s a very good change from the usual freshness-and-citrus-only-focused white wines on the market. It brings that for sure, but herbal, tropical, floral and nutty flavours culminate into something even better. If you want complexity, don’t miss this.
Bonus Stops
I’d like to give a mention to some of the more left-field countries that Naked stocks wines from. When I buy wine, I always aim to find the next thing rather than the same old. If you’re anything like me, I hope you will enjoy these wines too.
PI Saperavi - From Georgia, this is Saperavi, an inky, black fruited red grape with a full body. It won Best Georgian Red and Grand Gold at the Mundus Vini awards.
Petit Paradis de Qanafar - Naked’s first wine from Lebanon is a Bordeaux style blend that is well worth the jump from France to the Middle East. It has a lovely rustic tone, displaying bold blackberry and redcurrant flavours with vanilla and toast going through the body of the wine. It’s an instant classic.
Diego Spinoglio Tannat - Tannat is the grape that Uruguay excels at. It’s probably going to be the most tannic red you’ve ever had (clue in the name). Smoky, woody, spicy, herby and thick. It’s a bit of a hefty treat with super intense fruit to boot.
Zillinger Neuland Organic Gruner Veltliner - Again I’ve lacked on the white front here, but hey, Winter is drawing in so reds should be more on the mind anyway. Whilst this is from Austria, which isn’t strictly a hidden gem, I do think that it doesn’t get the credit it deserves for winemaking. This is largely due to a scandal in 1985 where it was found they were adding antifreeze to simulate sweetness. Anyway, the wine! Gruner is distinctive, unique and special. It shines with crisp lemon, lime and tropical nectarine as the fruit. What makes it stand out most is the characteristic white pepper flavour that comes with Gruner. It’s crisp, yet complex.
So, there you have it. A sort of around the world in 80 Naked Wines style piece. Although if I'd picked 80 this might have been a bit much. Still, hopefully it has opened you up to trying something new, something different and given you an idea of the special connection between Naked, their wines, their community and their winemakers.
If you haven’t shopped with them before we have a Naked Wines Voucher to get you started. If you have, check these out and add them to your profile. Wine is here to be explored and give you a little taste of another country. Enjoy!