2018 Delightful and Strange Red Wine Napa Valley 750 ml

We don’t want to say that putting together the Delightful & Strange Red blend is getting easier… but with this fifth release of the wildly popular member-favorite, we’re starting to experience the effects of what investors call the power of compounding.

In our best deal yet, we’re offering this sumptuously textured jigsaw of top-ranked vineyards and grapes from across Napa—from Atlas Peak to St. Helena. It’s hard to map out the exact value breakdown, but considering each estate bottling runs at $100 or more, you’re getting a taste of some of the best Napa properties at a bank-heist deal.

Now, after nearly two years of aging, this Delightful & Strange red weaves together powerful aromas of blueberry, black currant, and black cherry. It’s rich and luscious on entry, supported by fine tannins as it luxuriously stretches out on the palate with an exquisite velvet texture, touched with licorice and chocolate. 

As a youth, Warren Buffet famously used to ponder whether or not to get a $300,000 haircut—meaning he understood that even $1 invested instead of spent today could turn into a mountain of money years down the line. Over time, at a solid rate of return, money starts multiplying itself.

We’re seeing a similar phenomenon play out with Delightful & Strange. The investment of time and energy we’ve put into the brand since the debut release of this rich, glossy, supremely easy-drinking Napa red in 2018 is starting to pay huge dividends on both sides of the equation. We’re getting access to better and better vineyards, at lower prices, and seeing the bottles bought up about as fast we can make them.

The email open rates—and more importantly, the sales and member mailbox—make it clear this is consistently one of the biggest hits on our whole roster of value wines, and among the most successful reds in the under-$30 category. That’s not something we take for granted.

Which is why it’s good that success cuts both ways. Where once we had to bend a winemaker’s ear to purchase grapes for the new Delightful & Strange venture (“What’s it called?”), as often as not, it’s the winemaker or estate asking us if we’re interested in taking some surplus Malbec or Petit Verdot off their hands.

That was the case with this towering 2018 release. Some of its Cabernet grapes come from an Atlas Peak estate that, if you drink much Napa red, you’ve certainly heard of and perhaps ordered on a splurge night out for $250+. Others come from a St. Helena site known for its $200+ reds. But because 2018 was a bumper crop and the winemaker heard about our streak of sales with the brand, we got the best deal yet on high-quality grapes that are perfect for an every-night, any-occasion wine.

With that rich base intact, we blended in some of the darkest, most powerful wines we could lay hands on, making for a heady mix of Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Verdot, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc. It’s a true A-team of source sites, everything from the most famous grower in Carneros to one of the highest-scoring sites in St. Helena. 

Once the perfect counterpoint of ripeness and acidity was achieved, we hit it with 20 months in 20% new French oak. 

We don’t know Buffett’s tastes, but we think Delightful & Strange is a purchase he’d applaud. Take the $100 we saved you, stick it in a large-cap index fund, and call it a day.