Just text for wine!

If you follow me on Twitter or regularly read my blog, you'll know that I am a huge fan of the company Naked Wines.

I first became a member (or an Angel) in 2015 when Eamon FitzGerald came to a conference I was attending and waxed lyrical about buying wine with a social purpose. You can read my original article here.

They have loads of wines on the website, so I always spend ages trying to decide which ones to order. In the past, I've often ended up buying a prepared mixed case because I know I'll get something different to try and it means I don't have to give myself brain ache trying to narrow my selection down to 12 wines.

I have now discovered that Naked Wines has a new service called Text for Wine. It's amazing and does exactly what it says on the tin! 

All you have to do is register for the service online and then you can just send those bods at Naked Wines a text and they will send you wine. So you can do it any time, any place. I won't tell you what I was doing at the time!

And you can be as vague or specific as you like. So, for my first order, I asked for 12 bottles, for the wines to be around £10 a bottle, a mixture of red and white and told them the sorts of wines that I liked. And that was that!

The next day, a box of wines came through my door. The total cost was £105 (including my Angel discount) so actually worked out a bit less than £10 a bottle. And, I was really pleased with the selection. There were a couple of wines in there I'd ordered before such as the Benjamin Darnault Picpoul de Pinet 2014 and the Dominic Hentall Malbec 2014. But there were some new ones to try such as the Christian Patat Primitivo Puglia 2014 (which was really nice) and a delicious bottle of Benjamin Laroche Chablis 2013.

Apparently this is the first service of its type in the UK and currently only available to Angels (monthly subscribers to Naked Wines). But I think it is brilliant and I'll definitely be texting for wine in the future!

Must be talking to an angel

I discovered Naked Wines when I went to a marketing event in Norwich. I was supposed to be learning about building successful brands. Instead, this hot, Irish man stood up and started talking about wine. By all accounts I listened to that presentation!

The hot, Irish guy introduced me to the concept of wine buying with a social purpose. I love wine, but unless I'm in a vineyard, eyeball to eyeball with the producer, I rarely think about the people behind the bottle. I guess most wines fall into the category of what I view as the "mass produced wines you see on the shelves of Tesco or Waitrose". And don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with those wines, lots of them taste pretty good.

In England, we often hear about local farmers campaigning about the cost of milk. About how the big, bad supermarkets squeeze farmers to beyond levels where any living can be earned. But it never occurred to me the same could be true of wine. 

Lovely Picpoul and how you rate the wine

Naked wines supports independent wine growers. This means that when you buy wine from them, you'll never have heard of the brand and sometimes the stocks run out of the wines you really like. But each of the wines has been made by a family vineyard or a small, artisan producer. And, by you buying the wine, you are directly investing in that vineyard and personally helping to ensure that winery continues to be in business. And, you pay a fair price for a bottle of wine.

And do you know what, maybe I do feel a bit better about drinking the wine when I feel I am doing good for the world (#fact, by me drinking wine, I am helping someone). But that's not even the best bit.

You know those adverts where you give money to charity and you receive updates from the children, or ponies or forest you have helped to save? Well it works just the same for Naked Wines!

When you invest in Naked Wines, you become an Angel. As an Angel, you receive updates from the growers to let you know how they're getting on. How the grapes are ripening this season, new wines they have on the market and other little things they happen to be excited about.

OK, so I haven't exactly saved a breed of endangered snails, but it makes me feel pretty good.

Another great thing about the site is that you can share your experiences with others. So, if I had a particularly enjoyable session on a case of Picpoul de Pinet, I can let other people know about it. And they can let me know what they liked and didn't like too. It's not even that poncey either, as the people talking about the wines are mainly normal people, like me.

And the wines have been pretty good too. I have especially enjoyed:

•  The Benjamin Darnault Picpoul de Pinet which is light and soft and highly coiffable
• The Filigrana Alvarinho from Antonia Venturo - a lovely pear drops wine that comes in a surprising, blue bottle (pictured above)
• The Mauricio Lorca Lorico 2010 which tasted like a glass of ripe cherries

My only complaint would be that they claim to be a social brand, yet they are rubbish at acknowledging and responding to mentions on social media. I talk about them all the time on Twitter because I think they are great. I talk about when a new delivery arrives, which wines I've liked, what I'm doing when I drink the wines... Look, basically I love them.

All I ask, is show me a little love in return. Just the odd tweet. Just a tiny mention. Let me know you're listening! After all, you are talking to an Angel.

Disclaimer: drink sensibly n that ;)