Cheese Plate at Wrath Wines
35801 Foothill Road, Soledad
(831) 678-2212, www.wrathwines.com
It’s a wise oenophile that travels with cheese while on a tasting jaunt down River Road. An even wiser one goes to Wrath, and lets them do the curating. At $20 for a three-cheese plate (or $8 for one cheese), one might assume a mark-up. Not so. The three-cheese plate comes with full portions of each cheese – not cut, just unwrapped – accompanied by a dollop of quince jam and fresh, hearty crackers from Marin’s Rustic Bakery. The cheese is all California, and some local: A recent plate arrived with Schoch Dairy’s East of Edam, Marin French Cheese’s La Petite Crème and Cypress Grove’s “Purple Haze,” a chevre from Arcata dusted with lavender and fennel pollen. Add some Salinas Valley sunshine, one of Wrath’s distinguished Chardonnays and the bucolic views from the patio, and cheese has found its highest calling.