91 pts Planet Grape, Catherine Fallis, Master of Wine 90 pts Wine Enthusiast “Honeysuckle, lime-blossom, light pear and peach”
Tasting Notes
With a name meaning “out of” in Latin, EX speaks to our focus on expressing the personality and characteristics of our Certified Sustainable (SIP) estate vineyard. The resulting unoaked wine is bright and direct, yet deceptively rich. The nose has a subtle tropical note and flavors offer guava, banana and green apple. There is a noticeable but balanced acidity with a full mouthfeel.
Vineyard Notes
Our 2019 EX Chardonnay comes from the original old vine, own-rooted Clone 4 planted in 1985 on our estate San Saba vineyard.
Production Notes
100% Clone 4 chardonnay; estate-grown grapes are hand harvested and hand sorted. It is fermented (primary only) and aged for 3 months in stainless steel before being bottled on-site.
The wrath of Juno sent Aeneas wandering the Mediterranean in Vergil’s Aeneid. For the ancient Romans, ira or wrath, was a tool of a god, an unstoppable anger driven by forces greater than man. One can argue that we see such fury in both the might of nature and the passion of art. Wrath appears in the edgy power of Robert Plant’s voice and the raw wail of Eric Clapton’s guitar. It is frozen into Jackson Pollock’s violent splatters of paint. Wrath is in the wall of maritime fog that rolls into the Salinas Valley and the relentless afternoon winds that scream through our grape trellises. Wrath wines represent a nexus of nature and an unbridled passion for winemaking.
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.
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, KS, LA, ME, MA, MI, MN, MO, NV, NH, NM, NY, NC, OH, OR, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, WA, WY
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: Tax & Shipping not included in savings calculations.)
2019 EX Unoaked Chardonnay - $30 = 25.00%
After a quick and delightful email from Alice I awaited my undeserved prize…
Chardonnay… domestic…
Hmmm…
A deviation from old world whites for us…
In the fridge it went as I knew, for us, this baby would have to be cold…
Upon pour, as expected due to temperature, fairly muted. Some honey, some bread yeast, something vaguely citrus. The taste largely reflected the nose - a little acidity - when it was closed it was passable food wine.
We poured at 47 degrees and honestly, this was the most palatable temperature for us - as the wine ‘unwound’ it became less and less exciting.
At 55 degrees the wine emerged with a little petrol, a bit more alcohol and the honey was more pronounced. A roundness comes into the wine with air and temp as well and an after taste that we couldn’t identify - but it wasn’t pleasant.
At 60 degrees the wine was completely undrinkable - think watered down apple juice without the sweetness or scent of apples… well, this probably isn’t a good comparison but you get the idea.
My wife and I guessed at maybe a $12-15 retail price.
Wish I had better news casemate folks. We went back for a day two sip as well and the wine was largely unchanged - a bit dulled if anything.
Thank you Alice & co for the opportunity - while we didn’t love the wine we genuinely appreciated the chance to opine!
@bdb given that pretext you’re getting a bargain. You’d go through this easily. Honestly if I had kept the temp down we probably would have finished the bottle.
90 Points. Honeysuckle, lime-blossom, light pear and peach aromas show on the nose of this stainless-raised bottling. It’s tight on the sip, showing linear and fresh tones of lime juice and sharp pear. MK 12/1/20
Wine Access, where it’s selling for $16 has this to say:
Pale golden color with bright edges. Fresh apple and Bosc pear on the nose, with bright spring florals and blanched almonds. Deceptively rich for an unoaked wine. Lemon curd and hazelnuts on the palate, with touches of honeysuckle and toast plus a cleansing acidity and flavors of citrus zest. Drink now–2025 (by the way, they suggest a serving temp of 48 F, I notice the rattage liked it best here too)
Hey everybody, sorry for the late post. I was excited to be picked to labrat again, my wife and I are big fans in general of unoaked Chardonnay.
Out of the fridge we got sour apple on the nose but not much more than acidic sourness on the palate.
After letting it warm up for a bit it opened up some. At this point a green apple fruitiness appeared but the wine still seemed unbalanced with the acid dominating the tongue. A little later at closer to room temp even more so.
I’m going to give this another shot tonight paired with some fatty foods to try to stand up to the acid. I’ll report back later.
@jermfish opinion hasn’t changed much. I think this is best had cold where it is inoffensive but not particularly interesting. If you’re looking for something to drink cold then the case price seems fine.
Sabrina Rodems, a classmate of mine at UC Davis, is the very talented winemaker for this label. All of the wines I’ve had from them - whites, pinots, syrahs - have all been very very good. Just thought I’d pipe in here - and no I have not had this specific wine . . .
@tercerowines
The notes from her in the write-up were pretty terse, but do generally agree with the WE and WA TN’s as well as the Rats.
Larry, do you think it may just be her style for this one isn’t resonating with the Rats here? Expectations of something quite different than what they poured?
@rjquillin not really sure - the rattage comments are interesting. A wine that is enjoyable at 48 degrees but unagreeable much warmer is, to me, problematic. The winery’s tasting notes tough on the richness of the wine - is there a tremendous amount of bitterness too?
2019 Ex Unoaked Chardonnay, Monterey
91 pts Planet Grape, Catherine Fallis, Master of Wine
90 pts Wine Enthusiast “Honeysuckle, lime-blossom, light pear and peach”
Tasting Notes
Vineyard Notes
Production Notes
Specs
What’s Included
6-bottles:
Case:
Price Comparison
$228.00/Case for 2019 Ex Unoaked Chardonnay, Monterey at Wrath Wines
About The Winery
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, KS, LA, ME, MA, MI, MN, MO, NV, NH, NM, NY, NC, OH, OR, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, WA, WY
Estimated Delivery
Monday, Aug 15 - Wednesday, Aug 17
2019 EX Unoaked Chardonnay
6 bottles for $59.99 $10/bottle + $1.33/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $89.99 $7.50/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
The grapes of wrath?
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: Tax & Shipping not included in savings calculations.)
2019 EX Unoaked Chardonnay - $30 = 25.00%
After a quick and delightful email from Alice I awaited my undeserved prize…
Chardonnay… domestic…
Hmmm…
A deviation from old world whites for us…
In the fridge it went as I knew, for us, this baby would have to be cold…
Upon pour, as expected due to temperature, fairly muted. Some honey, some bread yeast, something vaguely citrus. The taste largely reflected the nose - a little acidity - when it was closed it was passable food wine.
We poured at 47 degrees and honestly, this was the most palatable temperature for us - as the wine ‘unwound’ it became less and less exciting.
At 55 degrees the wine emerged with a little petrol, a bit more alcohol and the honey was more pronounced. A roundness comes into the wine with air and temp as well and an after taste that we couldn’t identify - but it wasn’t pleasant.
At 60 degrees the wine was completely undrinkable - think watered down apple juice without the sweetness or scent of apples… well, this probably isn’t a good comparison
but you get the idea.
My wife and I guessed at maybe a $12-15 retail price.
Wish I had better news casemate folks. We went back for a day two sip as well and the wine was largely unchanged - a bit dulled if anything.
Thank you Alice & co for the opportunity - while we didn’t love the wine we genuinely appreciated the chance to opine!
@pete0744 I am curious how your review might read in respect to value if you generally liked unoaked white wines, and had paid $7.50 for it?
@bdb given that pretext you’re getting a bargain. You’d go through this easily. Honestly if I had kept the temp down we probably would have finished the bottle.
@bdb @pete0744
Paying $7.50 a bottle made it better??
@bdb @ScottW58 yes. Lowered expectations.
As mentioned, the WE says:
90 Points. Honeysuckle, lime-blossom, light pear and peach aromas show on the nose of this stainless-raised bottling. It’s tight on the sip, showing linear and fresh tones of lime juice and sharp pear. MK 12/1/20
Wine Access, where it’s selling for $16 has this to say:
Pale golden color with bright edges. Fresh apple and Bosc pear on the nose, with bright spring florals and blanched almonds. Deceptively rich for an unoaked wine. Lemon curd and hazelnuts on the palate, with touches of honeysuckle and toast plus a cleansing acidity and flavors of citrus zest. Drink now–2025 (by the way, they suggest a serving temp of 48 F, I notice the rattage liked it best here too)
fwiw
@kaolis I’d never heard of Wrath Wines before this offer, but there is a bit of love for them out in the wine ether…
Hey everybody, sorry for the late post. I was excited to be picked to labrat again, my wife and I are big fans in general of unoaked Chardonnay.
Out of the fridge we got sour apple on the nose but not much more than acidic sourness on the palate.
After letting it warm up for a bit it opened up some. At this point a green apple fruitiness appeared but the wine still seemed unbalanced with the acid dominating the tongue. A little later at closer to room temp even more so.
I’m going to give this another shot tonight paired with some fatty foods to try to stand up to the acid. I’ll report back later.
@jermfish opinion hasn’t changed much. I think this is best had cold where it is inoffensive but not particularly interesting. If you’re looking for something to drink cold then the case price seems fine.
Sabrina Rodems, a classmate of mine at UC Davis, is the very talented winemaker for this label. All of the wines I’ve had from them - whites, pinots, syrahs - have all been very very good. Just thought I’d pipe in here - and no I have not had this specific wine . . .
Cheers.
@tercerowines
The notes from her in the write-up were pretty terse, but do generally agree with the WE and WA TN’s as well as the Rats.
Larry, do you think it may just be her style for this one isn’t resonating with the Rats here? Expectations of something quite different than what they poured?
@rjquillin not really sure - the rattage comments are interesting. A wine that is enjoyable at 48 degrees but unagreeable much warmer is, to me, problematic. The winery’s tasting notes tough on the richness of the wine - is there a tremendous amount of bitterness too?
@cduan thoughts? Split a case?
This is tempting; I do like an unoaked chardonnay, but the rats weren’t exactly in love!
@markgm Exactly where I am.
you need a lab woodchuck
@hawkesroost Groundhog, lol
@hawkesroost @kitkat34 No, no, no. That would set us up to have the same wine every single day.
@bdb @hawkesroost True!
