Stephen and Jamie de Wet
South Africa
Father-son duo behind our biggest-selling wines of all time. All hail Stephen and Jamie de Wet!
- Stephen has been making wine from his family vineyard in the Robertson Valley since the tender age of 17. Winemakers don't come more experienced, or, frankly, downright in love with their work than this man.
- He's been with us since day one, 10 years ago, when we started out. Ever since, we’ve sold more of his crowd-pleasing Arabella wines than pretty much all of our other winemakers put together. Actually, to be more precise, in a stacking contest it would beat 226 Everests.
- We couldn’t have picked a nicer guy to be one of our first, and longest-serving winemakers... and Stephen never forgets it’s the support of wine-mad Angels who’ve been behind his success story.
Benjamin Darnault
France
Consultant winemaker on a mission to uncover gems for the Angels all over the Languedoc
364,657 Ratings
37,611 Followers
- When Ben left a safe winemaking job in Australia to move back to France with his young family in the noughties, at first he really struggled. The financial crash of 2007/08 clobbered the winery he was working at, so they had to let him go. He couldn’t catch a break.
- That was until Angels freed Ben from the corporate fat cats and transformed his livelihood. Thanks to Angel investment, Ben was finally able to set up on his own and realise his lifelong dream of putting his own name on the label. Even better, he had an advance on his next vintage!
- With the backing of Angel funding, Ben has been able to invest more, source even better fruit and establish strong relationships with local growers to improve the quality of his delicious wines year-on-year. With thousands of rave reviews, he’s a bonafide Naked icon.
Carlos Rodriguez
Spain
Highly respected consultant oenologist, who gets paid to travel all over Spain making other people's wine taste delicious
267,717 Ratings
25,327 Followers
- Your Winemaker of the Year 2012, leading consultant winemaker, Carlos works all over Spain. Getting paid to tell other people how to make their wines taste amazing.
- Now, with the help of Angel funding, Carlos is making his own wines. Exclusively for you!
- And, using his insider knowledge, Carlos has been able to select the best grapes Spain has to offer. Something most winemakers can only dream of doing.
Joost & Miguela de Villebois
France
Former Chairman of the Dutch Stock Exchange, who found his real passion in making Loire wine
264,064 Ratings
25,495 Followers
- Once upon a time, Joost was Chairman of the Dutch Stock Exchange. Then one day his world turned upside down. After falling in love with the Loire Valley on a French holiday, he decided to give up his rich city job and move there, to become a winemaker. Everyone thought he’d gone bonkers.
- The early years were tough, and his business almost went bust. But we’d heard whispers he was crafting some of the best Sauvignon Blanc in France. So we took a chance on Joost, and sent in the Angel cavalry.
- Since then he's been spoiling Angels rotten with some of the finest wines we’ve ever stocked.
Paolo Sacchetto
Italy
The Sacchetto family have been making some of Italy's most famous wines for nearly 100 years
214,718 Ratings
20,597 Followers
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Like his dad and grandad before him, Paolo Sacchetto has been making divine fizz since he grew out of short trousers. His family business has siblings and cousins in every nook of the vineyard and winery. Even his 80-something dad still turns up for work every day. You can’t buy that experience.
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Paolo doesn’t just make wine. He pours his heart and soul into it. It’s his life, his passion. And he loves getting feedback from wine drinkers, which he uses to improve every vintage. So when he heard about Naked’s Angels, it was a match made in heaven.
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A genius with bubbles, not for nothing is he known as ‘The King of Prosecco’. He makes a range of classic Italian whites including, for our money, some of the creamiest fizz on the planet.
Luis Vieira
Portugal
The man behind one of our highest-ever rated wines, the magical Montaria
189,459 Ratings
19,763 Followers
- Luis makes exceptional wines (together with Antonio Ventura) because he gets the pick of the best grapes from the local growers, how you may ask...
- ...he has the inside knowledge on who has the best grapes. We love his wines, and his bulging little black book of great growers!
- If you like to get lots of wine for your money, look no further... Portugal has wines that are stunning value, just because it is still largely undiscovered.
Mauricio Lorca
Argentina
Angel funding turned Mauricio's business around, and he's forever grateful
187,371 Ratings
23,718 Followers
- Many years ago Mauricio was all set to go to medical school and become a doctor. Then fate stepped in. A winemaking tutor came to give a talk, and he was hooked. It was a tricky conversation he had with his mum when he went home that night.
- Fast forward 20 years. After earning international acclaim making 96 Parker Point wines for some of Argentina’s world-famous brands, Mauricio’s talent is now in such demand he advises top Argentinian wineries, as well as making spectacular Argentine wines exclusively for Angels. He did Ma Lorca proud, after all.
- Thanks to Angel funding, Mauricio’s hand-crafted nectar is a million miles from supermarket roulette. He controls every step, from pruning to pressing, fermenting, bottling and storage. You can taste the pride and passion in every sip. And thanks to your investment his wines are getting better every year.
Constanza Schwaderer
Chile
Freed from corporate shackles by Angels, she now has her own business
186,212 Ratings
19,290 Followers
- Connie is a Chilean rebel. She got sacked from a big winery for leading a revolution against the cheap, mass-produced wine Chile was churning out.
- Hiding out in tiny vineyards off the beaten track, Connie champions old Chilean grape varieties - farming them in traditional ways and hand-picking the fruit using local labour to regenerate the local economy.
- Thanks to Angel support, she’s rented a big old winery and scaled up production. So instead of her juice ending up in million-litre vats, blended into supermarket plonk, she’s able to turn it into delicious high-quality wines that put Chile on the map.
Alessandro Botter
Italy
Big by Naked standards, Alessandro is a third generation winemaker with a soft spot for Angels
177,498 Ratings
14,629 Followers
- Founded in 1928, sourcing grapes from a network of small local growers, with relationships going back over 80 years.
- Cousins Alessandro, Luca and Annalisa have taken a successful family company onto a whole new level.
- A big business by Naked standards, with quality head and shoulders above any comparable producer.
Mike Paterson
New Zealand
The genius behind Jackson Estate wines for 10 years, now flying solo thanks to Angel funding
158,020 Ratings
16,811 Followers
- Mike used to be the Head Winemaker at one of New Zealand's finest, most prestigious Sauvignon Blanc wineries.
- He loved the job, but he also loved the idea of fulfilling his life-long dream of going it alone. Only problem was, the financial equation was "beyond scary" (as Mike put it!)
- We funded Mike to go it alone on one tiny, simple, lovely condition: he makes you some absolute stunners in the wine department. With your backing, he’s been able to make some of the most consistently high-rated Sauvignons in the whole of New Zealand. Kudos to you.
