Naked Winemaker Ben Gould has purchased of a 50-acre Vineyard in Margaret River, following a crowd funded Christmas wine sale, to raise the deposit.
As a result of increased sales from Naked Wines and a special wine sale for his mailing list, Gould has been able to finally own a vineyard big enough to produce all the grapes required.
“We crowd funded the deposit with wine specials at Christmas time, telling customers the revenue was to be used to purchase a vineyard. The response was overwhelming,” Gould said.
Gould’s passion lies in organic and sustainable winemaking – he believes that each bottle of wine should be alive with the unique flavours of the vineyard in which the grapes were grown, and additionally display the particular characteristics of each vintage. Gould believes that using sustainable practices during the grape growing and winemaking process is the key to unlocking the best quality wine.
Gould’s Blind Corner wines are made according to natural and organic methods, with minimal/no additives (but not formally certified) and his Blind Side Margaret River Classic 2014 is the highest rated white wine on the Naked Wines website.
“In recent years, we’ve found ourselves buying grapes from as many as seven different growers. The trouble with supply is that it’s difficult to ensure the quality is consistently as high as we’d like, and we could never get enough organic grapes. Hopefully now with this vineyard we’ll be able to maintain excellent quality control with the grapes we’re working with, and move all of our grape-growing to organic certification,” Gould said.
“Partnering with Naked Wines has not only brought our wines to a much bigger audience, but has provided the financial stability to take on this investment in our winemaking future. It’s a hugely exciting time for my family, and we’re looking forward to being able to really intricately manage the entire process of winemaking, starting with the grapes.”