Leighton Joy
Australia
Young chap taking over the family vineyard and turning the produce into amazing wines
- Leighton Joy's passion is to make wines the way that he wants to make them, filled with honesty and integrity. As his wines are from Single vineyards, each bottle is an expression of both the location and himself.
- Over the years, Leighton has stacked up the awards - including the Western Victoria Wine Challenge trophy for Best Shiraz and Best Wine!
- At the end of the day, the most important thing to Leighton is your reviews and feedback. It helps him grow, craft and create truly beautiful wine.
- Angels have come to the rescue of Luke who had to take on the role of both Chief Winemaker and CEO after the sudden death of his father - Coonawarra winemaking Icon Patrick Tocaciu.
- Luke's passion is the regions of Coonawarra and Wrattonbully with the aim of releasing wines when they are drinking at their peak.
- He has won numerous awards over his winemaking career including 7 trophies and dozens of phenomenal Halliday results.
- Having previously worked for McWilliams Wines, Orlando Wines and Giesen Wines, Rob has bucket-loads of experience and is excited to use this knowledge to make wines under his very own label. What's more, his winery was recently rated in the Top 10 New Wineries by James Halliday.
- Each wine he creates now draws on incredible international experience..he's been everywhere a winemaker could want to work! Burgundy, Tuscany, Napa Valley, Niagara Peninsula and even the magical Marlborough.
- Born and bred in the NSW Riverina region, nominated for young winemaker of the year in 2008 and with access to some seriously amazing fruit, Rob is now making wines exclusively for Angels!
- Rob just gained 60,000+ new friends in the Angels. His lifelong dream is coming true and he thinks it an absolute pleasure to make the best possible wine that he can for everyone at Naked Wines!
- Cynthea has been making wine for 23 years. She started at a young age... 5 to be exact when her parents moved from San Francisco to Tassie and purchased a plot of land which they planted in 1980. It was a natural evolution to work with the vines and Cynthea eventually ended up studying winemaking and wine marketing.
- Her favourite varietals are Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Cynthea absolutely loves using her sense of smell and taste as her job. It has opened her world so much more. AND, it is the best passport to travel on!
- The Angels investment allows Cynthea and her husband David more time to spend with the growers, and getting the best grapes they can. Great grapes = great wine!
- Ben Gould is a winemaker from WA with 18 vintages under his belt. He started in the vineyard and has done every level of job there is.
- Named in the Gourmet Traveller WINE magazine in the best of the best for 2011, and Gourmet Traveller class of 2011 Top Ten. Max Allen went on to review Ben's wines as "... released a swag of wines that blew me away".
- His wines are sourced from both his own vineyards and conventional vineyards across Western Australia. His recent vineyard purchase in Margaret River was with Angel help and it is in the process of becoming certified organic!
- Adam Barton began as a winemaker largely as a result of tasting a glass of the 1965 Lindemans Hunter River Burgundy which he described as "magic". Based in the Clare Valley, Adam has the freedom to explore different variteals and keep pushing the boundaries of experimentation to the delight of Angels' taste buds everywhere.
- Winemaking since 2001, the reason Adam's wines are so special is due to carefully selected vineyards, passionate grower partners & lots of care and attention to the smallest detail in the winery.
- Adam's Rabbit & Spaghetti range of Red wines are consistently loved by Angels, garnering a mammoth 90% or more buy-again rating year in, year out!
- Making exceptional McLaren Vale wines is Hamish's passion. Having spent over 15 years winemaking both here and abroad, he is delighted to now be able to share his experience and passion with Angels everywhere.
- In between catching a wave and crafting wines for his Shottesbrooke label, Hamish spends his time thinking outside the square and dreaming up new and innovative blends that truly speak of their origin, exclusively for Naked.
- The reason Hamish's wines are so special? "They're from McLaren Vale… the grapes do most of the work themselves. Happy vines, happy wines..."
- With the help of funding from Naked Wines, Jen is making wines the way she wants. This is a huge win for all involved, since Jen was voted Australia's Young Winemaker of the Year in 2009!
- One of Jen's favourite things about being a Naked winemaker is chatting with you, the people who drink her wines. So go ahead! Ask her anything.
- Before she made wines for Naked, Jen earned her family's winery a 5 Star rating from James Halliday and her meticulous approach ensures she will bring the very best out of all the grapes that she works with.
- Rod left his full-time post as Chief Winemaker at Craggy Range, New Zealand's most iconic winery, to set-up-shop alone and make an exclusive range of wines just for us, using the BEST grapes that Hawke's Bay, Marlborough and Central Otago have to offer.
- Rod is an immense talent, whose wines are dripping in medals, rave journalist reviews and oodles of Parker Points - and thanks to Angel funding and backing, he's agreed to get Naked!
- This is a huge win because Rod is at the pinnacle of New Zealand winemaking. Your tastebuds are in for an incredible treat.
- Brian, from the Margaret River in WA has been producing for 30 years now and once managed a winery in Tunisia, Italy working out of an old colonial French Chateau making Carignan.
- Brian Fletcher works with exceptional and dedicated growers in Margaret River so has access to fantastic fruit and a wonderful region in Margaret River to work with.
- The upfront funding from the Naked Angels provides a fantastic opportunity for Brian to innovate without a total financial exposure. Brian cannot wait for the day he can talk directly to the angels and together they can create a new wine from scratch.
