Adrian & Rebecca Santolin
Australia
Two million Naked bottles and counting - this spirited couple know what Angels want!
- Boy (Adrian) meets Girl (Rebecca) are are on the ride of their lives raising their family while living and breathing their other passion - wine! The pair have been involved in winemaking for over 15 years. You can always expect their range of Naked exclusive wines to include something a little left of field.
- For years, their dream was to one day make their own wine. Fast forward to the present and they're finally living that dream with thanks to the backing of Naked Angels. Their wine is dedicated to their family, and of course any Angel who has helped make their wine possible!
- In just 4 high paced years, the couple have gone from producing a handful of Pinot Noir cases to quenching the thirst of 1000's of people around the country. In 2019 they clocked up their 2 millionth bottle sale through Naked - yes, 2 million! As one of the very first teams to hop aboard the Naked train, Adrian and Rebecca continue to amaze, inspire and often fill our glasses here at Naked HQ!
- 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.
- Growing up in the beachside suburbs of Perth, Rory Clifton-Parks developed an early love of the salt, sand and sun that his coastal surroundings enveloped him in.
- Rory has been winemaking for 15 years now, having first started working for Evans and Tate and Boar's Rock in Western Australia.
- Rory strives to make high quality wines which reflect the terroir of the region. With some of the best facilites Margaret River has to offer, Rory gets great satisfaction from seeing fruit processed through to the final bottled product.
- 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.
- Both Anna and Derek are super experienced having made wine in Bordeaux and Rhone just to name a couple, before landing in the same place... Mount Benson on the Limestone Coast.
- Anna and Derek are really passionate about where they live. Their house is situated on top of Woakwine Range overlooking the townships of Robe, Cape Jaffa and Kingston. When vintage isn't so manic, they love listening to chill-out music in the cellar, comparing notes about the surf over the weekend and having a well earned beer at the end of a hard day's work!
- Their wines are expressive of their region, and serious wines are what they specialise in (full bodied reds made in a cool climate style). Whilst the 'Obelisk' range is exclusive to the Naked Angels some other wines in their stable have already been declared Outstanding by James Halliday... they are definitely a couple to look out for.
- 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!
- Born and bred in the Upper Hunter Valley, Ash worked in local vineyards while helping to establish his Family Vineyard.
- Ashley is one of the most passionate people we have ever met. When asked what he loved most about his job, his answer was "Everything! I love the action during vintage and the progression of grapes becoming a bottle to enjoy. I love the diversity and the abstract thinking you can put into creating a wine product. I also love the diversity of the people that work in the industry and how winemaking makes me feel complete in my life".
- What's the difference between Ash and the rest? His grapes are from organic vineyards and are made using fully certified organic practices!
- Ben Gould is a winemaker from WA with 20 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".
- Ben's 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!
- Jock is one very popular winemaker, because he is no bull, no pomp, just bloody great wines at a bloody reasonable price.
- "Drank it naked on a bearskin rug" was one customer tasting note. Need we say more...
- He's great at taking customer feedback combined with Naked funding and turning it into the kind of wines people love to drink, so keep giving him the feedback he needs to do his job. It's your duty...
- 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.
