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Source: NakedWines.com, Inc.

American Wine Drinkers Invest $233,000 in Top Argentine Winemaker to Create Two New Wines

-- Award-Winning Winemaker Mauricio Lorca Joins Crowdfunded Wine Business --

Crowdfunding Raises $233,000 for Award-Winning Argentine Winemaker

NAPA, Calif., Feb. 26, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NakedWines.com, a customer-funded winery, has united over 150,000 Angels to invest $233,000 to create two wines with Argentine winemaker, Mauricio Lorca. Mauricio has spent the last 15 years creating his small winery and vineyard about 60 miles from Mendoza in the Uco Valley of Argentina. He has been making 90+ point wines on a small scale but had no capital to make more, until now with the crowdfunded investment from the NakedWines.com Angels.

Mauricio says, "Working with NakedWines.com is perfect for me because I really don't care about awards or reviews. I prefer to receive good reviews and appreciation from the consumers drinking my wine. Now I get to focus only on the wine and not the business."

Funded by cutting costs you can't taste

Since Mauricio's wines are crowdfunded by his customers, there are no marketing or sales costs. This allows the NakedWines.com Angels to invest heavily in grapes and talent, without wasting money on things they can't taste.

In the wine business, the cost of selling is so high that it can often double or triple the price of a bottle. Mauricio says, "I am so excited about my Malbec and Torrontes finally making it to America at an everyday price! If I sold these wines through the traditional way it would cost my customers more than double so thank you Angels for allowing me to make my wines at good prices!"

Crowdfunded wines available now

Mauricio's customer-funded Malbec and Torrontes are available exclusively to NakedWines.com customers as of February 15, 2013.

Website: http://www.nakedwines.com

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/nakedwinescom

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/nakedwinesdotcom

Contact Details:  adam.reiter@nakedwines.com / 707-723-4762

NOTES ON NAKED WINES

What we're all about

Naked Wines, was born in December 2008 when twelve friends quit their jobs in the middle of the recession to do things a little differently.

Our goal: Find the world's most talented, undiscovered winemakers and set them up in business.

How we go about it:

  • 150,000 customers invest over $4 million dollars a month towards future orders (we call them 'Angels')
  • Which we use to fund independent winemakers
  • In return for exclusive wines at wholesale prices
  • Which we pass back to our customers

We call it the 'virtuous circle', as everybody gets more for less, without trampling on anyone along the way.

The hard and fast facts

If you're looking for something a little meatier, this should help:   

  • We've invested in 105 independent winemakers to date
  • We lease the former Blackstone winery in Kenwood to use as a winemaking studio for all our independent winemakers
  • We've seen over 100% growth year-on-year, with sales of $40 million in 2011
  • We've recruited 200k customers, 100k of which invest over $3 million dollars a month towards future orders
  • We were named the UK's most innovative wine company for two years on the trot, at the IWC
  • We were named the UK's Online Business of the Year at the 2011 National Business Awards
  • And we're probably the world's largest group of net wine investors

A truly social business

As well as the model itself, the website delivers a truly social experience.

  • Customers can chat directly to one another and to the winemakers.
  • Customers can vote with their feet on new initiatives and wines, to decide what makes the cut.
  • And we can suggest to customers what to buy AND what not to buy, based on their preferences.

The team

The man at the top is Rowan Gormley, former Virgin Wines and Virgin Money CEO, and our non-executive director who keeps us in check is Ian West, former BSkyB MD. The rest of us are an assorted bunch of 30 wine and tech-loving employees based in Napa.

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