Why Venom?
by Jess DeLappe
The 2023 harvest began with an experience none of us will ever forget.
As Dre and Nathan prepared the winery for its first fruit of the season, they placed a 300-gallon water tank onto a stack of pallets that had been sitting inside the winery for weeks. Moments later, while folding a tarp nearby, Dre felt a sharp sting on the back of her leg. Thinking she’d caught a splinter from the pallets, she kept working, until Nathan shined a flashlight inside and discovered a large rattlesnake trapped beneath the weight of the tank. Unable to rattle or escape, the snake struck twice.
Nathan rushed Dre to the hospital, where doctors began administering anti-venom less than an hour after the bites. Over the next five days in the ICU, she received 20 vials of anti-venom and battled complications, including a deep vein thrombosis near the bite wounds. Recovery was slow. First came a walker, then a cane, and eventually walking again on her own. While her leg healed remarkably well, the neurological effects of such a severe envenomation proved to be a much longer journey.
Nearly two years later, her neurologist recommended eliminating alcohol temporarily to help her brain and central nervous system continue healing. That recommendation inspired something unexpected: Vina Moda’s very first ever non-alcoholic wines.
Our limited-production 2025 Sauvignon Blanc and 2023 Petite Sirah were born from that chapter of her recovery, a reminder that beauty can grow from life’s greatest challenges.
Now as we celebrate nearly three years since those life-changing bites, we’re honored to release the 2023 Venom. A bold blend of 75% Petite Sirah and 25% Malbec, this wine reflects the intensity, resilience, and strength that defined the 2023 harvest.
Alongside it, we’ve also released the 2023 Twice Bitten, crafted from the same Petite Sirah and Malbec with the addition of Primitivo. Because Dre endured two bites, we felt her story deserved two wines.
Even while recovering, she showed up every day of harvest sometimes with nothing more than determination and a cane.
The labels on both wines feature the rattlesnake that forever changed our story, alongside a poem Dre began writing from her hospital bed, already believing that one day this experience would become something worth sharing!
We home these wines remind you that even life’s most difficult moments can become stories of resilience, gratitude, and hope.
Some stories begin with hardship. The Best ones end with gratitude. This is one of ours.