BARE is a passionate wine collective, founded by friends + family around a dinner table in Auckland, New Zealand. Our vision is to source artisanal, low-intervention, delicious drops from around the globe.
Combining travel, friends of the terroir and long hours behind a glass, coupled with the desire to share our findings, we proudly import and support producers who are pushing the boundaries of winemaking. Vin de Copains – wines that are generous, fresh, fun and incredibly drinkable.
-Life is too short to drink bad wine-
BERTRAND – “I’ve got an idea!”
With a life of travel, hospitality and retail management centered around wine, B has a unique insight to the wine industry in New Zealand and has become quite a well known figure in the wine supply chain with many contacts, customers + friends across the country.
He’s known to many as the ideas man. Continually coming up with fun and innovative products to import or sell. To us at BARE he’s excellent at keeping us all on our toes and thinking about the future as well as being the main man introducing our products to our customers.
Bertrand’s knowledge of wine stems from his years as Wholesale Manager for Maison Vauron but adds in snippets from his time in Toronto and then New Caledonia. You’ll find him at one of our wine events or tastings. He loves an opportunity to crack open a good bottle with friend or enjoy a few on a fishing trip.
ANTONIA – “Coffee in one hand, Wine in the other, children in between”
While the two french men grew up surrounded by the wine industry, Antonia brings the natural/organic side to the table. Raised on Great Barrier Island in what can only be described as a hippy commune, her family is completely self sufficient. They grow/catch all their own food + she has learnt the importance of sustainability and living in harmony with mother nature. She knows it’s the only way forward.
The only wine experience she had growing up was her father’s “Wine” (we will put it brackets because it had names like ‘Leg break’ & ‘Arm break’ from the accidents family friends had after a night on the plonk, clearly good stuff) so her knowledge was quite limited, until she married Romain.
Now Antonia is the woman behind the scenes of BARE, running a household of 2 boys (3 if you include Romain) + managing an international Bridal Label. She gets through her busy days with a glass or two of Gamay + a good laugh.
ROMAIN – “Why do you only need one egg when baking a cake?
Because one egg is un oeuf!”
Romain is something of a wine expert, although he calls himself a wine lover, there are few people who can talk about wine, pair wine + food or recommend wine like he does.
Growing up in Lyon, his wine introduction started with harvests on his cousin’s vineyard in Beaujolais (Xavier Benier). Through Xavier he was introduced to George Dos Santos (“The Flying sommelier”) who owns one of the best wine shops in France, Antic Wine. “Jojo” believed the best way to learn was to try and daily blind tastings were a must for the staff. Romain was drinking legendary wines alongside tiny, unknown vineyards and had the chance to meet winemakers and sommeliers that frequented the shop.
While at Antic Wine, Romain was lucky enough to participate in once in a lifetime events such as a special dinner for Bocuse d’or with the 350 best chefs in the world, around Paul Bocuse (the “father” of the French Gastronomy).
Wanting to explore the world, he moved to New Zealand. Here he started working for Maison Vauron where he met Bertrand and later, Antonia. He spent the next two years enjoying the relaxed NZ lifestyle. Just as his visa was finishing up he was offered a role with a wine bar in Hong Kong. This quickly turned into opening and running a French wine bar + wholesale business in Singapore. Romain and Antonia sold wines to many Michelin starred restaurants and met winemakers from all over the world (Such as Phillip S. Johns, creator and former winemaker of Bass Phillip vineyards in Victoria). He was once again able to participate in wine dinners and blind tastings with some of the best wine of the world.
Romain and Antonia moved back to New Zealand to start a family and think about their future. They came to a conclusion…. The best wines are those made with minimal intervention!
