Prior to joining Naked in 2016 as a winemaker, I had been heavily associated with Chinese interests investing in Australian wine companies and purchasing Australian vineyards/wineries for the better part of a decade. I can currently say I am an independent winemaker with no dealings with Chinese exports or Chinese interests and have been for some time; in fact it is part of my story and how I ended up with Naked Wines. However, I am supportive of their role and contribution t

The 2019 Shiraz is a blend of three quite different McLaren Vale soil types. So expect a lot of complexity. i.e. many different sensations simultaneously evident. Hopefully this is what will make you come back for another sip (or 3)! To start with, there’s the sandy, well drained soils out at Blewitt Springs and McLaren Flat. Usually they have clay and gravel underneath. Big, rich, bold wines come from these soils. Just to make things interesting, I have used some of the fame

I wanted to say thanks for all your support over the last 5 years but wasn’t sure how. I decided what better way, than to produce a kick-ass McLaren Vale red under $13 per bottle! The 2017 Le Petit Rouge is a McLaren Vale Cabernet Shiraz blend. It went live online this month and with Naked Wine’s amazing business model, it’s on the virtual shelf at the Angel price of just $12.49. Wow! This wine is unique in that it isn't a single vineyard wine. Cabernet and Shiraz blends are

If you’ve read my Naked Bio, you’ll know it mentions my love of GSM blends. “All this experience has armed James-Paul with an incredible breadth of knowledge. Making blends like GSM is now one of his biggest joys, as it’s more an art than a science when trying to build structure”. Your patience and my toil for the past two years have brought my latest incarnation to the virtual shelves of Naked. A GSM red blend from McLaren Vale has just been released exclusively for the Ange

I been a little busy and it looks like I haven't posted for the past 3 months on this forum so apologies! The reason why is that I have been hard at work on the 2019 Handcrafted Enfant Terrible Adelaide Hills Jacqueline Rosé which has just gone live on Naked this week. The 2019 fruit was sourced from a single vineyard in the southern part of the Adelaide Hills. The 2019 vintage was dry and cool, so once again characterised by an extended ripening season. A very hot, dry summ

I don't often make strongly regional wines, as I tend to forgo regional and varietal character in order to make a wine that is more drinkable. Thus my 2016 McLaren Vale Shiraz is somewhat of an enigma for me. In making my first McLaren Vale Shiraz under my Handcrafted Enfant Terrible label, I was looking to create a wine that would sit extremely well in a line-up of my favourite McLaren Vale Shiraz's; Scarpantoni Block 3 Shiraz, Kay Brothers Basket Pressed Shiraz and Mr Riggs

2017 is simply my finest vintage ever! On February the 18th during the hustle and bustle of vintage, I welcomed my daughter Jacqueline Francesca Marin into this world. To commemorate the happiest day of my life, I have named the first of my 2017 released wine after her; The Enfant Terrible ‘Jacqueline’ Rosé. Now that I have filled your head with traditional Rosé winemaking techniques and grape varieties, you can disregard all I have mentioned, as I now explore the unconventio

Rosé wines are made from a wide variety of grapes (both white and red). In Australia it is very common for Rosé to be single variety wines made from Shiraz, Pinot Noir or Grenache. In 2006 while working in the historical home of Rosé in the South East of France, winemakers tended to blend multiple grape varieties like; Cinsault, Mourvédre (Mataro), Gamay and Carignan to create drier, elegant, softer wines than their sweeter and fruitier Australian counterparts. There are thre

Many customers have commented about the unconventional addition of Grüner Veltliner to my Adelaide Hills Chardonnay. They have also commented that it tastes quite refreshing for a Chardonnay and not heavy like some more traditional Chardonnays. In this post I want to discuss the changing profile of Chardonnay, what is Grüner Veltliner and why I blended a small portion (1.5%) into my 2015 Adelaide Hills Chardonnay. I was still studying winemaking in the early 2000’s and too yo