PEOPLE'S MAN Rowan Gormley Naked Wines

IT'S BEEN NEARLY six years since Rowan Gormley, a South African who first built his reputation in private equity, decided it was time to get back into the wine business. Having founded and run what would become Virgin Wines, he knew there was a very real market in wine, despite various protestations from the established trade.

"It was around 2008," he says. "Lehman's had just gone bust, countries were going bankrupt and I just thought: We can't do what everybody else is doing. It has to be radical, it has to be different."

So he set up Naked Wines, an online retailer with a difference. It is a social site: Customers are invited to rate the wines they have tasted, post comments and interact with fellow drinkers as well as the winemakers.

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It also serves as a crowdfunding option for independent producers. If customers like the wines, they can become "wine angels"—a monthly payment of £20 lets you order bottles at a discount from winemakers while allowing Naked Wines to plan its investment in them. The premise is that by directly funding the winemaker, the company removes the middleman and marketing costs—savings that are then passed on to the consumer.

Critics point out that by listing exclusive wines from relatively unknown winemakers, buyers don't have a fair price comparison. I would add that they are also placing a lot of trust in Naked Wines' assessment of its stock.

But that hasn't seemed to have hindered customers' interest. With 150,000 "angels" across the world, the Norwich, England-based company has a turnover of more than £40 million and ships over 10 million bottles of wine a year.

Last June, Naked Wines moved into Napa, opening a winery for 25 winemakers. And last month, the company set up its second base in California. They also have operations in Australia.

"Wine as a product has legs," Mr. Gormley says. "The next stage for wine is when consumers get away from fear and away from what other people think about me because of the wine I drink. There is a whole level of wine consumption to come. It will become much more adventurous."


He says that 70% of wine consumers don't really care what they drink as long as the price and the flavors are acceptable. Five percent are really engaged and care passionately about their wine choices. The remaining 25% are his target audience: those who aren't necessarily connoisseurs but like wine.

Having a foot in both the U.S. and Europe gives Mr. Gormley a unique take on both the American and European wine consumer.

"The difference isn't as big as we thought," he says. "Almost everything we were told—'Moscato is huge,' 'Merlot is dead'—proved to be wrong. Shiraz is over? Well, let me tell you, it's not.

"What I would say is that U.S. consumers are far more adventurous than retailers think they are," Mr. Gormley continues. "They are very open to new business models and are prepared to pay a lot more for their wine than Europeans."

I've tasted through a fair few of Naked Wines' selection over the years and I can't say there are any wines of much interest for the avid oenophile.

For those just getting into wine, however, it's not a bad place to start. But you don't have to take my word for it.

—Email Will at or follow him on Twitter: @Will_Lyons