CARMICHAEL, CA (MPG) - One of a mere cupful of residential wineries in Sacramento, Wreckless Blenders this summer celebrates 14 years of wine making. The boutique operation produces about 100 cases of wine (1200 bottles) for sale each year. Using grapes from Mendocino County and El Dorado Hills, the Carmichael business crushes, ferments and ages its vintage. It then blends, bottles and labels five varieties of red wine in John Troiano’s busy garage.

Retired plant pathologist Troiano (71) grew up in New Jersey. His Italian grandfather made wine in a Brooklyn basement. “I never knew my grandfather and my dad didn’t make wine, but the passion skipped a generation and came back in me. My Slavic mom grew beets and tomatoes in our back yard; she had me weeding and composting. I guess my interest in growing things came from that.” Troiano earned a doctorate in plant pathology at Rutgers University and started experimenting with wine blending on the Ithaca campus. “I was interested in acidity and sugar content,” he explains.  “Being a scientist, I studied the numbers behind what made wine pleasant to drink.” 

In 1984, Dr Troiano and his bride Vicky came to California. Settling in downtown Sacramento, he began a 35-year career with the State Department of Pesticide Regulation. To give their infant son Kyle playing space, they found a home near Ancil Hoffman Park. On land once farmed by pioneer Mary Deterding, Troiano e famiglia put down roots. Their hillside was clayish but the scientist dug in peat to improve the soil. He then planted 32 sapling grapes of three Mediterranean varieties. As his knowledge grew, he became a pillar of the Sacramento Winemakers Club and -- with several aficionado friends -- formed a home-based operation they called FatCat vintners. Through years of serious research, experiment and tasting, the group formulated serious wines. FatCat’s Bordeaux-style blends won State Fair gold medals and were the toast of regional wine clubs.

Troiano swears by oak-barrel aging. “We’ve used stainless steel kegs and glass carboys,” he explains. “We learned wine aged in wood tastes smoother.” As business grew, 20 oak barrels (some relics from French vineyards) rolled into his chilly cellar. Renamed Wreckless Blenders in 2007, owners include Troiano’s blender buddies Jim Brown, John “Rocket” Nichols, and Dave Ashuckian. Quirky label spelling is an in-joke originating from when FatCats pondered a name change.

Troiano asked his buddies: “How are we blending?”

“Recklessly,” Jim Brown joked.

“Okay,” decided Troiano, “we’ll call ourselves Reckless Blenders.”

“Only if it’s spelled with a W,” insisted Brown. “We might blend recklessly but we make no wrecks.”

Chateau Wreckless has a cozy following with its own wine club. “If everyone buys a case, we’re close to selling out every year,” says the founder. “Our members are knowledgeable, experimental and they seek a good wine at a good price.”  Troiano and Co sell mostly through their club but – as social animals – they love community. Their participation in Taste of Carmichael festivals has earned thanks from local Kiwanians and the quartet look forward to club tasting gatherings at the blendery. Despite the restrictions of COVID, the vintners kept the barrel rolling with curbside sales on Palm Drive. After 18 months, their recent in-person event tasting drew 25 visitors and brisk cellar sales.

“It felt exhilarating and fulfilling to be back in contact with our club members,” says Troiano. “We enjoyed catching up with what was happening in their lives – over a glass of wine.”

Learn about Wreckless Blenders at www.wrecklessblenders.com