Pulverized blueberry, wood smoke, silky blackberry puree. Damson plum, kalamata olive, creme de cassis. Warm briar and brown leaves, hot cocoa and vanilla bean. Chocolate covered cherries plated atop violet & rose petals drizzled in candle wax. Dense and texturally rich with an assortment of slightly saturated fruit stirred into crushed gravel and lava rock. This 2015 Napa Valley Proprietary Red Blend by Strala Vineyards is big juicy delicious charmer.

Proprietary Red Blends have developed into more than just a passing trend across California. These nontraditional wines stray from the standard blueprint of single varietal & single vineyard bottlings and instead combine a wide range of grape varieties into a cohesive finished blend. This bottling, crafted by Strala Vineyards using fruit from across Napa Valley, is one of the the better executions we have tried. While full bodied and quite chewy this wine oozes complexity and does not come off as soft or flabby. Acid here is ample and keeps things fresh. Merlot and Zinfandel dominate the composition and provide the radiant fruit core while Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, and Petite Sirah add structure to round out the blend. This wine is a surefire crowd pleaser for those of us not phased by purple teeth.

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