Trading boardrooms for barrels
Earlier this month, I found myself in our Sonoma office for what was ostensibly a productive week of strategy meetings. There was only one wrinkle in the itinerary. When your office window directly overlooks a fully operational winery, there are certain… distractions.
Thanks to this year’s blistering heatwaves (yes, it’s the same across the Atlantic), the 2026 harvest in California kicked off earlier than anyone could remember.
So by a complete stroke of fortune, I was on hand to experience the raw energy of harvest alongside our US team – as the first grapes rolled into the winery.
A proper home for a wine company
Up until recently, I (and the rest of our Sonoma team) wouldn’t have had the chance to experience this crucial moment in the winemaker’s calendar so readily.
It was only last year that we got the keys to our new home in the states. The historic Sebastiani winery in Sonoma.
Built in 1902, it’s a site with incredible history. It was the only estate in the county stubborn enough to keep the lights on during Prohibition, keeping itself afloat by churning out medicinal and sacramental wines.
Moving in was a massive milestone, bringing Naked staff, our winemakers, and a mountain of barrels under one very large, very historic roof.
Because the office shares a ZIP code with the winery, there is absolutely no escaping the action.
Stairway to wine heaven – the first grapes of harvest
The decibel level of fresh Sauvignon
On the day the first Sauvignon Blanc grapes were due to arrive, every time a tractor rumbled past, or a forklift beeped in the distance, heads would pop up over computer monitors like meerkats.
We were like kids waiting for Santa – if Santa drove a flatbed truck full of fruit.
When the parcel finally backed into the yard, we were all handed bright yellow high-vis vests and marched down to the crush pad.
Given these were the season's very first grapes, the winery seemed eerily quiet. Serene, even.
Then, the machines switched on.
If you’ve never stood right by a commercial crush pad during harvest, nothing can quite prepare you for the sheer, physical wall of noise.
It’s like standing front-row at a heavy metal gig, except instead of guitars, it’s the roaring of destemmers and the pneumatic thump of presses.
All conversation instantly died. You couldn't chat if you tried.
Instead, we just stood there, mesmerised, as stacks of crates, proudly stamped in Naked blue, were slickly transitioned by forklift onto the conveyor belt.
It was a humbling reminder of the sheer engineering scale of this operation. The pale juice splashing out was instantly swallowed by a labyrinth of pipes. I tried to trace one pipe to its destination tank, went around in circles, and entirely lost my bearings.
To see with your own eyes how it’s all done – and to know our Angels are the ones who make it possible – is quite something.
Hablas vino, señor?
The big thing that stood out to me was the winery team, and how they operated like a well-oiled machine.
I watched a cellar hand wield, essentially, a massive rake to vigorously coax every last berry from the crates – not a single grape was going to waste on her watch.
During a brief lull in the noise, I managed to catch up with Jorge Aleman, one of our winemakers in the USA and a full-time member of the winery team.
Jorge’s from Mexico like me, but has honed his skills in the heart of Sonoma. It was a joy to slip into Spanish, as we joked about the searing heat and whether the grapes or the cellar hands were sweating more.
It was a powerful reminder that beneath all this industrial hardware, winemaking remains a deeply human craft. The buzz around the office was palpable as winemakers dropped in to share what they had bubbling away…
Franc Dusak, our Director of Winemaking in the USA, is crafting a vibrant California spin on the traditional French Beaujolais for our US Angels. We spent ages debating label designs that capture that transatlantic clash of cultures.
Meanwhile, Matt Parish tipped us off about a fresh new white blend that had just hit the tanks, boasting aromatics that are already turning heads across the cellar.
Naked USA winemaker Montse Reece – and the fruits of her labour
Sangria in the Sonoma sun
The crowning moment of the week came courtesy of local legend Scott Peterson. As the afternoon heat finally broke, he wandered into the office bearing a gift: enough fresh Sangria to keep us all hydrated.
Served from a gigantic white plastic bucket. Obviously.
I almost docked him points for presentation, but the moment he ladled it into our glasses, all was forgiven. Soaked in fruit and topped with a splash of sparkling water, it was perfection.
Scott didn’t just bring a drink, either; he brought a soundtrack, throwing on some jazz-funk by an artist named Trombone Shorty.
And yes, I know what you’re thinking, I’d never heard of Mr Shorty either.
But I have to say, it was one of my favourite wine pairings to date – not food, but music that perfectly matched the moment.
Sitting there in the late afternoon, the mechanical hum of the winery echoing slightly in the distance, tasting new wine while listening to new music… it makes you take stock.
It’s at this time of year, harvest, that the connection between craft in that cellar, the unyielding passion of our winemakers, and the backing of you, our Angels, is at its strongest and most undeniable.
Harvest is when your wines are truly born. It was a privilege to experience it, even just for a few days. And I hope we can bring a sense of that magic to you over the coming months.
Salud!
