Support winemakers through our COVID Relief Marketplace

Jesse Katz

Aperture Cellars

After making wines for the super famous (Petrus, Lancaster, Screaming Eagle, Justin Timberlake) Jesse launched his own winery – Aperture Cellars – with the support of local restaurants. But as COVID shut down restaurants, he lost a major opportunity to share his wines.

“Angel support is huge," said Jesse. “We’re still really lucky to be able to ship wine directly to customers and current followers - they’ve been amazing supporters,”  he said, adding, “but we had a ton of wine allocated to restaurants. Working with nakedwines.com is a huge, huge benefit and we’re excited by the partnership now and in the future.”

aperture-cellars.com

Angels showed up for Jesse, pre-selling over $300,000 worth of Aperture Cellars inventory on Independence Day. Your community knows how to help a winemaker in need!

Megan & Ryan Glaab

Ryme Cellars

Named one of California’s most innovative young winemaking teams, Megan and Ryan Glaab created Healdsburg’s Ryme for wine drinkers hungry for wildly new varietals for Wine Country, like Aglianico Rosé and Vermentino. Turns out, the crowd goes wild for those rare styles, especially in restaurants and “by the glass” promotions... but both took a hit due to COVID closures. Now Angels can help the Glaabs sell their next great wines!

“I can’t express this kind of grateful," Megan said. "We can make wine as normal this year. What that means for us is supporting our growers. We don’t have to back out on contracts. We are so thankful for you guys.”

www.rymecellars.com

Support the Glaabs with a special thank you 6-pack - Angels save $38!

Alice Warnecke Sutro

SUTRO Wine Co.

A family heirloom – 240 acres of Alexander Valley land, including vineyards that produce some of the most famous Cabernet in the region – is the reason Alice Warnecke Sutro dedicated herself to winemaking and launched SUTRO Wine Co. in the first place. 

But up until today, Alice Warnecke Sutro admits every customer has been hard-won. There are so many tricky in-betweens of selling wine that surpass quality grapes and winemaking.

The three-tier system has never made the business of selling wine simple - but now, it's proving rather impossible and exacerbated in the time of COVID-19, when restaurants, bars and tasting room closures make even the most veteran wineries fearful for the future.

Angels can remove those tricky in-betweens and give micro-lot Alexander Valley wines and the Warnecke’s century-old family ranch the credit they're due. 

“I keep telling people that nakedwines.com saved my business,” says Alice.

www.sutrowine.com

Ted Henry

PRIME Cellars

Head Winemaker for famous Napa winery Clos du Val, Ted Henry keeps a passion project – PRIME – a small-production Cabernet house that focuses on the niche region of Coombsville. It’s a small viticultural area in the Valley that Ted helped pioneer with this own label.

“For me, Coombsville is mecca - where great wine is made,” said Ted. And he worked to share his passion for the region with the world by opening a tasting room in downtown Napa - but it relies heavily on foot traffic, tourists and DTC sales. 

“This is traditionally the time we’re ramping up for harvest,” said Ted. “We’re purchasing grapes, and barrels, and supplies. The expenses continue even when our doors are closed. And I have the cash flow I need thanks to Angels.”

www.primenapa.com

Tom Rinaldi & Eric Risch

Pellet Estate

Napa wineries don’t get much more classic than Pellet. This St. Helena landmark is actually the 2nd oldest commercially producing vineyard in Napa – talk about historic! “It’s magical dirt,” says Eric.

But even the most prestigious small wineries are facing tough times and disrupted business because of COVID-19. 

With a rich Napa Valley history dating back to 1859 and one of the most revered winemakers in the Valley (Tom was the original winemaker for Duckhorn!) Angel funding is helping this Napa hallmark weather the storm – and its elegant Cabs are yours to enjoy.

“This level of exposure means everything,”  Eric said. “Angels, you’re the window to the world.”

www.pelletestate.com

Jonathan Pey

Forager, SpiceRack

Jonathan’s wine career has spanned Domaine Louis Jadot to Penfolds Grange, Mondavi to Schramsberg – the kinds of wines that sell for $1M in auctions like Premiere Napa Valley. 

Marin-based, Pey is a huge advocate for local wine viticulture, with his projects featured in restaurants and small fine wine shops across California.

Shop closures hit Jonathan very hard – he’s seen a huge sales drop since March – but Angels can give Pey the chance to turn sales around.

www.scenicrootwinegrowers.com

Elyse Winery

For more than 30 years, Elyse Winery has produced vineyard-designate Zinfandels and Cabernets showcasing all that Napa has to offer – from Yountville to Rutherford. And they're spectacular!

But as a bona fide Napa tourist destination, the winery relies heavily on tasting room sales and small distribution within 15 states

Your funding helps them recover from zero foot traffic during high tourist season - and Angels can enjoy classic wines from a humble (but 100-pt winning!) Napa institution.

www.elysewinery.com

Saini Vineyards

Mike Saini

In June 2019, the Sainis – a 4th generation farming family in Dry Creek & Alexander Valley – opened up their first tasting room… and closed on March 15th following California orders.

“We’ve closed our doors twice for crisis,” Mike said – for the Kincade Fire (Nov 2019) and now for the COVID-19 pandemic.

With limited restaurant and DTC sales, the Sainis are inundated with wine, with no room to bottle future vintages. Cue Angels!

www.sainivineyards.com

Keller Estate

Ana Keller and Julien Teichmann

A family winery with proud Petaluma heritage, the Kellers were successful enough to launch a second top-tier label -- but as COVID arose, their two largest buyers backed out at the last minute, leaving them with a huge portfolio of new wine and no one to share it with.

It ended up being a recurring theme, as several more wine and grape buyers backed out of contracts -- the kind that could shutter their doors 

Giving the Keller wines the credit they’re due – and helping to champion one of the youngest AVAs in Sonoma County – is a huge, huge win.

www.kellerestate.com

Lula Cellars

Lula Cellars is a boutique winery in Philo (Anderson Valley) that focuses on small production estate-grown and Anderson Valley wines – their specialty is Pinot Noir.

Lula relies 100% on tasting room and wine club sales – so the mandatory closure of tasting rooms on March 15 was devastating. 

Matt Parish has made Lula’s wines since 2017 – and experiencing the power of Angel funding first-hand, he knew we could help.

www.lulacellars.com

Matt Michael

Baldassari Family Wines

Matt opened up a the Baldassari tasting room in late 2019 in downtown Windsor – a small town in Sonoma County – completely switching gears from distribution to focus on customer sales of incredible Pinot Noir.

Once COVID-19 hit, Matt tried to pivot, just like so many other local vintners hoping to keep their doors open and sales up, but fell short, and feared the worst for the future.

With Naked's support, Matt can introduce the Baldassari family's excellent example of Russian River Pinot to Angels (major win) while keeping the doors open to Baldassari’s tasting room (win, win, win). 

www.bfwwine.com

Charles McKahn

McKahn Family Cellars

Specializing in creating quality wines from Rhône varietals grown in exceptional vineyards around Northern California, McKahn Family Cellars had to make the tough decision to shutter their tasting room permanently after COVID closures.

.. On top of that, their wholesale accounts have completely dried up due to restaurant closures

With Naked funding, the McKahn wines (including their famous red blend) can get the fanbase they deserve!

mckahnfamilycellars.com

Jeff Gaffner

Saxon Brown

Jeff launched Saxon Brown to focus on small single vineyard bottlings reflecting his preference for elegantly structured, well balanced and age-worthy wines.

But like many independent wineries, Saxon Brown depended on half of their wine being sold to restaurants in a pre-COVID world.

With Naked funding, this talented winemaker can reach a larger audience - and share a Naked first - a collection of vintage Chardonnays in a first-ever veritical for Angels.

www.saxonbrown.com

Simon "Sorby" Adams

Sorby Adams Jellicoe Collection

Simon "Sorby" Adams is one of the most influential and acclaimed winemakers in Australia, with 40 years experience in the Barossa Valley.

Throughout his award-winning career, Sorby’s philosophy of seeking out the finest grapes from the best vineyards in the Barossa and high Eden to create exceptional wines has been at the very heart of everything he does!

His latest wines were destined to be served in restaurants, but due to the pandemic Simon's been stuck with 80% of the inventory stuck in the cellar. With your funding, he can release them to the world.