Strala Vineyards Proprietary Red Napa Valley 2019

This wine is full of secrets, namely, what exact varieties and what percentages of them go into this blend! But we’re spilling the tea, er, wine, about just how incredible this Napa Valley red is. If you want an under-$40 Napa-cab blend whose quality will shoot you back in time to The Prisoner’s heyday, this Strala Vineyards Proprietary Red is a tantalizingly elegant (and mysterious) bottle that you simply can’t miss! Better still – shipping included on 2+ bottles!

Behind the brand are Jason and Laura Ray – a duo committed to using high-quality fruit to produce stunning wines. Laura, a healthcare professional turned blind-tasting champ, works for one of the top barrel producers in the industry. Her partner, Jason, is a vineyard manager for some of Napa's greatest vineyard sites with his own company, Napa Select Vineyard Management Group, where he oversees 900 acres of prime Napa real estate. He also used to work for Jackson Family Wines, where he cut his teeth at luminaries like Spire Collection wineries Lokoya, La Jota, and Verite. 

Strala is a Swedish word for “shine very brightly.” And boy, does this wine ever shine bright! We know there are some Bordeaux varieties as well as some zin in this blend, but we have no idea what the percentages of each are or which varieties. It’s a mystery to us, too. Hence why this wine is called “proprietary.” It makes for a fun blind-tasting guessing game, though, to see if we can use our deductive tasting skills to pinpoint which grapes might have made an appearance. (You should try it too! We know you drink enough of our Invino treasures to have honed your tasting abilities by now!)

When you’re finished playing “Who Wants to Be a Sommelier,” start actively drinking this wine to see how glorious it is. The baking spices, dark chocolate, vanilla bean, plum, and blackberry that cohabitate together in this wine show us what good winemaking is all about. We may not be able to say that this is “all cab” or “all zinfandel,” but we CAN say that this wine is “all delicious.” Grab a couple of bottles (at least!); you're going to want more, but we'll sell out today, so don't wait!