Bradley N.
Yelp
One of the best things about Wrath - other than the wine - is how unexpected the whole thing is. It's probably not what Robert Mondavi would have imagined California wine culture in 2016 to be like. It is equal parts attractive and edgy: like a grandma on a vintage Triumph with a Led Zeppelin tattoo on the nape of her neck. Or a 5-year old who can quote Steinbeck - in Mandarin. Or a white wine fermented in an amphorae-like vessel, or named something obscure in Latin, or a family of Texans who enjoy making small batch wine (ca. 6000 cases) with utterly admirable attention to detail, despite the financial risks this entails. It's called Wrath, after all, not Hello Kitty's Pink Wines & More.
The fundamentals for making ultra premium wine at Wrath are all there: a Monterey County growing site at the junction of River and Foothill Roads, on a valley floor location at the edge of the accoladed Santa Lucia Highland appellation, exposed to the elements and lightly shielded on one side by an elegant pine tree windbreak. There is a talented, maverick-oriented winemaker, Sabrine R., who oversees a wide range of white and red wines using estate grapes and selected lots purchased primarily from the Santa Lucia Highlands, but who also bottles wines under her own private label while supporting the efforts of micro-winemakers who pool their limited marketing resources under the "Wines of Danger" moniker. There is an intriguing mother-son dynamic involving transfer of estate vineyard oversight from one generation to the next that included a name change (San Saba became Wrath), and an overhaul of the look and feel of the label and tasting room. Inside and out, there is a spare, clean feel to the place, like a sports car that has been stripped down of bells and whistles to reveal only essential elements. Distinctively packaged wines using classically Roman inspired names feature bold black and red fonts make subtle reference to the weathered, Victorian wooden structure that greets visitors at the southern edge of the estate, one that often appears silhouetted against a monotone backdrop of grape fields, cloudless sky, and searing sunshine.
One could easily imagine Ridley Scott using the spot as a location for some sort of spine-tingling thriller or colonial era blood-and-glory conquest film. And the wines? They, too, are an amalgam of the expected and unexpected. As is typical of cool climate Region I vineyards, there are Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays to choose from, anywhere from $19-29 bottlings to those above $30 designed for longer-term aging or made using methods that inhibit secondary (malolactic) fermentation that highlight the minerality and spice of a wine rather than its fruit-driven core. Then there are the enticing oddballs, like a highly aromatic, green vegetable, lime zest, and juniper berry Sauvignon Blanc (ex Anima series) that bursts from the glass and brought to mind a Montana gin from a favorite small batch producer, the Montgomery Distillery. There is an unfiltered "ex Dolio" Falaghina (an Italian grape grown in Campania), ennobled by a melange of Blenheim apricot skin, dank cellar scents, and raw hazelnut, which gets special treatment in ceramic fermenting vessels akin to the amphorae used in places like Friuli, or among the urban winemaking hipsters in the East Bay. There is an outstanding San Saba Syrah brimming with restrained power, singed cedar plank, crushed violet, and cracked peppercorn, all of which get lost in heart-of-darkness, wild berry depth. There is a entry-level Pinot Noir (also ex Anima series) that fills the nose and mouth with wild fennel, tree-ripened black cherry, and sundried elephant heart plum, alongside a dizzying array of clonal-designate or singe vineyard options.
If any of this sounds alluring to you, pay a visit to Wrath and get up close and personal with their unusually fine wines. Listen to "Going to California" ahead of time to set the mood. Read up on recent news in Roman archaeology if that's your thing, or check out the "Wines of Danger" web site for tips on other edge-cutting Californian winemakers in the area (like Odonata, Comanche Cellars, or Waxwing). Call or email ahead to arrange a custom tasting (we tried the entire Ex Anima line-up during a recent visit and were impressed), and ask your server what she recommends, too. Save up some spare change by not ordering Starbucks for a week so that you a purchase a $20 artisan cheese and quince paste tasting board. Bring a jacket in case Aeolus is feeling particularly wrathful that day, but otherwise be prepared to cast your fate to the winds, for you never really know what the gods of the vine, in their irascible and inscrutable ways, will be up to by the time that you arrive.
