BigHammerWines.com

The iodine and umami character in the nose carries aromas of currants and plums, with chocolate, sage and hazelnuts. Full-bodied with an intensity of fruit. Extremely long and flavorful. Essentially the Hundred Acre DNA. Everything to one. ~99 James Suckling

Hundred Acre owner and winemaker Jayson Woodbridge describes Wraith as the perfect snapshot of a vintage, defined by a blend of all three of his estate single vineyards—Ark, Few and Far Between, and Morgan’s Way. Aged for 40 months in extremely fine, centre-cut French oak barriques with ultra-tight grain, the wine captures the essence of each site while forming a seamless whole. ‘Every vintage of Hundred Acre has a thread that connects it to the first,’ Woodbridge tells me as I taste, ‘Weaving the fabric of each new vintage, Wraith is like a time machine, revealing each vineyard’s unique characteristics in a singular expression. You can sense all three vineyards merging into one entity, creating the masterpiece that is Wraith.’ I’ll add that the consistency of style, even in challenging Napa vintages such as 2022, is remarkable. As I’ve written before, if you were to taste all three Hundred Acre wines and then Wraith, you might pick out the umami-rich character of Few and Far Between, the red-toned, zesty minerality of Ark, or the brooding muscularity of Morgan’s Way. In 2022, the wine is super plush and suave, with velvety-textured tannins and layers of crunchy red berry fruit and spice. It’s deeply expressive, revealing wonderfully rich, alluring fruit with a fine delineation between cherry and blood orange, alongside kirsch and tobacco notes. The finish is very long, marked by pronounced graphite minerality and tremendous purity. ~ 98 Decanter

Darker berries, smoke, sweet tobacco, cigar, chocolate, and Asian spice are just some of the nuances in the 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon Wraith, which is aged 40 months in 100% new French oak. It's medium to full-bodied, has a concentrated, layered, elegant mouthfeel, sweet tannins, and a great finish. It brings classic Hundred Acre richness and fruit with a pure, layered, seamless style that's impossible to resist. Drink bottles over the coming two decades. Drink 2025-2045. ~ 96 Jeb Dunnuck