A British writer has been arrested in the US over the audacious theft of £30,000 of vintage wine in a plot worthy of a crime novel.
Natali Ray, 56, allegedly posed as a wine connoisseur to distract the sommelier at an exclusive restaurant, while an accomplice switched eight bottles of the world’s best vintage with cheap alternatives.
Neighbours near her four-storey Victorian townhouse overlooking the sea at Herne Bay in Kent are baffled by the claims because they believed the former restaurateur and devoted mother was on a cruise.
Ray allegedly entered L’Auberge Provençale, in Virginia’s picturesque Shenandoah Valley, on November 19. The restaurant, a 90-minute drive from Washington, is a popular destination for political power brokers.
Christian Borel, the sommelier, told The Winchester Star that he was introduced to a couple claiming to represent a Canadian businesswoman, who was considering hosting a 25-person dinner costing about $20,000.
Ray was allegedly disguised with a wig and used the name “Stephanie Baker”. Borel said the pair had described their client as being “very particular” about wine storage and asked to tour the cellar.
“She did a very good job of distracting me,” he said. Borel believes the man wore a jacket tailored to conceal multiple bottles and replaced the stolen wine with “pretty poor replicas”.
When the couple left, Borel became suspicious and followed them outside with Matthew Leader, a waiter. The male accomplice had already started the engine.
“I opened the door, a big sort of tussle ensued,” the sommelier said. “It was pretty dramatic. He’s trying to speed away. The tyres are spinning.” Leader pulled the woman out of the car before it sped off.
Borel told the newspaper Ray gave “implausible stories” for her involvement in the heist. “She [said] she was held against her will, she was going to be beaten up, she met him [the accomplice] on a cruise ship and she met him walking down the street,” he said.
Restaurant staff were able to recover a bottle of a 2019 Échézeaux and a 2021 Grands Échézeaux valued at $41,500, but not six bottles of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti with a total value of $42,000. The car has been traced to a rental company in New Jersey, which has a major port for cruise ships.
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Ray has been charged with felony counts of grand larceny, conspiracy to commit grand larceny and defrauding a hotel. She is due to appear at Clarke County general district court on December 3.
The couple were said to have made an abrupt exit
Sheriff Travis Sumption said Ray faced up to 50 years in prison if convicted: “Hopefully this … will inspire fewer people to steal things like this. Because one of them is very much in trouble right now. I know they were partially successful, but someone’s facing a lot of prison time over this.”
Ray was born in Leicester to Serbian parents. She owned a restaurant, then a guest house in Herne Bay with her former husband. It is unclear when or why she began calling herself Ray. It is not her maiden name nor her married name.
Ray obtained a first-class degree in creative writing at Canterbury Christ Church University before completing a master’s at the University of Kent in 2019. She is recorded as a “teaching assistant” at the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury from 2017 to 2022.
Ray describes herself in a professional profile as a “freelance writer”. On X she says she is a “writer, poet, traveller & creative. Medical humanities. Poetry in translation.” In a Facebook review for the Comptoir Libanais wine bar in Kensington, west London, she wrote: “Great wine, great atmosphere.”
Neighbours said Ray lived with her disabled mother and two sons, aged 25 and 27, in the property she previously ran as the Bay View Guest House.
“She said she was going on a cruise,” said one friend. “She is such a lovely lady. She’s nothing but helpful to people. She’s lived here for over 20 years. Natali is a respected member of the community.”
Neighbours believed Ray had a “debilitating disease” and was preparing her home for when she needed a wheelchair, including the fitting of an internal lift.
One resident said she was highly educated, was a Christian and attended Bible classes. “She’s not the sort to misbehave,” said a neighbour. “I would say she’s more likely to be the victim. I think she has been duped.”
Dining and Cooking