Guess who’s back (and making wine)?
They say you should never go back. But when your former Wine Guy (a Master of Wine, no less) rocks up with a bunch of sensational old-vine Spanish wines, well… you might well leap into their arms too.
If you’ve been with Naked for a long time, Ray O’Connor needs no introduction.
For years, he was the voice in your inbox, Naked’s chief scout scouring the globe to keep your wine racks brimming with the good stuff.
He studied your ratings, read your wall posts, and essentially built a matrix of your perfect wine in his head.
Then, a few years ago, Ray hung up his Wine Guy hat (thankfully, not before teaching your current Wine Guy, Toby, everything he knows).
The thing is… he had an itch to scratch.
He didn't just want to find the world's best wines anymore. He wanted to make them.
Ray on the Naked Wines Tasting Tour 2021 with now, fellow winemaker Benjamin Darnault
In pursuit of happy juice
Fast forward to today, and Ray has swapped his Naked desk for the rugged, sun-baked landscape of Almonacid de la Sierra in northern Spain.
After years in the job, and having tasted thousands of wines (some brilliant, some feeling like an absolute chore to get through), Ray launched his own project, Bota Bota, with a refreshingly simple philosophy.
“Wines should not be hard work to taste or to drink,” he says. “They should be instantly pleasurable and satisfying. I wanted to make a wine that was pure happy juice.”
He found that joy in gnarly, ancient vines grown organically at hundreds of metres in altitude. Rooted in hard slate and granite soils, these old vines are farmed completely in harmony with nature – a massive point of pride for Ray.
He deliberately shies away from oak for his core range, allowing the wild, unadulterated essence of the grapes to shine through beautifully. His wines are a masterclass in vibrant, pure fruit flavour.
And the name? Bota Bota perfectly reflects this vibe. Roughly translating to “bounce” or “go, go” in Spanish, Ray says, “it’s all about energy, movement and positivity.”
There’s magic in those old vines
In a dry, harsh region like Aragon, deep, ancient roots are a lifeline. They dig down to hidden water reserves and mineral layers, stubbornly shrugging off the blistering heatwaves.
“Like all of us, their bounty reduces, resulting in fewer and smaller berries, but their depth of flavour is much better and more complex,” Ray muses.
Ray’s first three wines (a red, a white and a rosé) landed last year and promptly sold out, netting sky-high Angel ratings.
And because the highly anticipated new vintages are landing right about… now, here’s a quick refresher on his Organic trio:
First, you’ve got his Garnacha – a vibrant, fruity red, it’s pure strawberry and raspberry joy in a glass.
Next, you’ve got the Garnacha Blanca – a zesty, textural white brimming with lemon and almond.
Finally, his Rosado – a pale, Provence-inspired pink packed with refreshing blood orange and redcurrant, proudly rooted in Aragon.
Their success is all the proof you need that Ray’s decade of listening to Angels had paid off perfectly.
Inspired by the work Ray has done as an Ambassador for Vins de Provence, this Organic Spanish Rosado is made proudly in Aragón – the birthplace of Garnacha.
That’s one small step…
But then again, it’s no surprise Ray aced his very first wines. He is, after all, part of a very exclusive club. Indeed, to give him his full name, it should be Ray O’Connor MW.
Yep, Ray is a Master of Wine.
To put that into context, there are currently only around 420 MWs on the planet. In fact, more people have been to space than have ever passed the Master of Wine exam.
The pass rate hovers around a brutal 6%. And to achieve those two little letters after your name is the odyssey of a lifetime.
First, three days of blind tasting 36 different wines – where you must pinpoint the grape, region, winemaking technique, and ageability, all without seeing a single label.
Then comes the theory: five papers, three essays per paper, three hours each.
Ray dedicated his life to it, studying relentlessly while still working full-time as your Wine Guy.
Monday to Wednesday evenings were for study groups. Thursdays and Fridays were for home tastings. Saturdays and Sundays meant driving hours just to blind-taste another twelve wines. Every single week.
He passed the brutal tasting exam first time. The theory exams proved to be his crucible.
He failed the theory paper. He re-sat the following year, and failed again. He took a four-year break to focus on Naked, re-sat, and failed a third time.
Then Covid hit, and he found himself attempting to learn statistical science on the weekends in order to rewrite his 10,000-word research paper during the busiest weeks of his career.
But you can’t keep a good Wine Guy down.
On his fourth attempt, Ray passed. “This taught me a lot about myself. And I got to share the journey with my then young son, learning about it being ok to fail and not giving up," Ray reflects. "What I learned from the whole experience was… absolutely anything is possible!”
Bottling gold dust…
Which brings us to the present day. If you want to taste just how far a Master of Wine can push old-vine Spanish fruit, you need to look at what Ray just dropped into our Fine Wine Club.
His La Boticaria Organic Garnacha Blanca 2024 is a showstopping white sourced from a 600m-high mountain vineyard once owned by a village pharmacist. Hence the name…
“In years gone by, many people working non-winemaking professions would also own a bit of land to farm. This piece of land belonged to a family who owned a small pharmacy, so locals named it after their pharmaceutical bottles.”
These gnarly 100-year-old vines yield minuscule amounts of Garnacha Blanca – a grape Ray describes as "like gold dust in Spain."
With gentle lees-stirring, he has conjured a mouth-coating, dazzling white packed with grapefruit, fresh almond and an electric freshness. It’s a wine that could comfortably age for a decade, assuming you possess the superhuman willpower to leave the cork in.
First dibs have, of course, gone to our Fine Wine Club members. But there may well be a small stash left over if your appetite has been whet.
La Boticaria Organic Garnacha Blanca 2024
A Master of Wine at your Christmas table
And for those of you already plotting your festive drinking, you’re in for a serious treat.
If you are one of the lucky tens of thousands of Angels securing our legendary BIG Christmas Case this year, you’ll find Ray’s wines taking pride of place.
The new vintage of his ultra-juicy Bota Bota Organic Garnacha is sitting right there in the main case.
For me, its vibrancy makes it a perfect turkey and roast dinner wine. And you can bet it’ll be one of the first bottles I reach for come Christmas day.
And for those upgrading to the Ultimate Christmas Case, Ray has crafted something extra special…
Thanks to Angel funding, Ray meticulously selected his finest barrels to create a deep, brooding red bursting with warm black fruits, toasty oak spice, and a silky, creamy finish. It’s a wine built with enough energy and structure to stand up perfectly to your Christmas feast and all the trimmings.
And as any winemaker will tell you, it’s the ultimate honour to be poured at a family’s most special moments at Christmas. So Ray is absolutely thrilled, of course.
"It is an amazing experience for me to have started my journey of making wine for Angels so far, and to have a wine included in the very special Christmas case is the icing on the top. Thank you for ALL your support!"
Yes, after many years, Ray is back. He's making the wines of his life, and your glass is in very safe hands. “To paraphrase Adele ... 'Hello from the other side!'”
