Wrath produces site-driven Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Syrah, and Sauvignon Blanc from our estate vineyard and respected properties in the Santa Lucia Highlands. Our production is small, our distribution is limited and our wines reveal attitude, passion, and an inherent respect for what a vineyard can give us.
Our Estate San Saba Vineyard is sheltered in a nook just below the Santa Lucia Highlands AVA, roughly 25 miles southeast of the town of Monterey. Our climate is heavily influenced by the morning fog and afternoon winds from the nearby Pacific Ocean. This is a cool site with little rainfall and one of the longest growing seasons in the world. Our unusual climate allows us to produce ripe, concentrated wines of exceptional balance.
Our site’s soils are primarily composed of Arroyo Gravelly Loam and Hanford Gravelly Sandy Loam. The Hanford Gravelly Sandy Loam comes from the SLH bench just above our vineyard. In addition to its excellent drainage properties, our site is essentially free of disease and pests allowing us to plant and farm a portion of our property with own-rooted vines.
The estate consists of 72 acres, 67.75 of which are planted to grapes. The varietal mix is Chardonnay (30.44 acres), Pinot Noir (18.11 acres), Sauvignon Blanc (15.44 acres), Syrah (3.60 acres) and Falanghina (0.59 acres).We tailor our trellising, row direction, rootstock, clones and farming protocols to take advantage of the subtleties and intricacies of our terroir. To preserve our local ecosystem, we have worked with viticultural consultant Steve McIntyre to develop and implement a SIP certified sustainable farming program specifically tailored to our unique conditions. In addition to protecting the local environment, we believe it allows us to produce wines that are more authentic and specific to our terroir.
This site was first planted in 1973 to Pinot Noir by the McFarland family. Purchased by Steve McIntyre in March 1987, it has been intensely upgraded and subsequently certified as sustainable by the CCVT. Of the 80 acres, 60 are planted to vines and 20 are set aside as a wildlife corridor. This vineyard has the oldest Pinot Noir vines in Santa Lucia Highlands.
The Doctor’s Vineyard is one of the most celebrated sites in the Santa Lucia Highlands AVA. Located west of the town of Soledad, it is an exquisite parcel perched along the slopes above the Salinas Valley. Of the 243 acres of grapes, 193 acres are planted to Pinot Noir (11 clones), 45.5 acres are planted to Syrah (five clones) with the remainder planted to Malbec. Wines from the Doctor’s Vineyard are uniformly dark, dense, supple, opulent, structured and distinctive.
Father Tondré and son Joe Alarid, both steeped in California’s agricultural history, founded Tondré Wines with the vision to produce a limited production, world-class Pinot Noir from their vineyard, Tondré Grapefield. Tondré Grapefield was planted in 1997 on six and half acres in the heart of the Santa Lucia Highlands appellation. It now has seven blocks for an accumulation of one hundred acres dedicated to Pinot Noir grape vines.
KW Ranch is located in the heart of the Santa Lucia Highlands, southeast of McIntyre Vineyard and just northwest of Gary’s Vineyard. Planted to both Pinot Noir and Syrah in 2000 by Kirk Williams, the site features a well-exposed, gently-rolling hillside with gravely loam soils. Wines from KW Ranch tend to be intense and highly aromatic.