LEADERBOARD ARCHIVES

This week we focus on a perennial favorite at AWCO...The wines of Ceritas. Their small collective team, led by founder, John Raytek, can easily draw a detailed map of the northern California coastal regions, including the West Sonoma Coast, Santa Cruz Mountains, Moon Mountain, and Napa. They know this place inside and out – riding their bikes through its rolling hills, surfing in its frigid waters, taking their kids mushroom foraging in the fog-drenched conifers – and you can see it in the wines.  They allow each vineyard to be the teacher, with they as the students. This ongoing process of...

This week we are excited (for the 150th Open Championship to commence) but also to feature the newest releases from Domaine Sylvie Esmonin. We selected these wines as a great representation of what this coveted Domaine has to offer. Sylvie's grandfather worked for the Comte de Moucheron, former sole owners of the great Clos St Jacques vineyard. When the Comte had to sell, Esmonin bought a portion of the vineyard along with his house. Michel Esmonin, Sylvie's father, helped to develop the domaine, but sold the wines mostly in bulk. Sylvie came back to help her father on the condition that everything was bottled at...

Ceritas is continually one of our go-to favorites for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in all of California. The wine sells out instantly on their mailing list and a few lucky retailers (AWCO!) are lucky to secure small quantities. Unfortunately, this year’s allocation was slim.  Owners John and Phoebe Raytek’s belief in the fruit drives their commitment to growers and vineyard sites. Together, they spend much of the year listening, learning, and refining what they know about the vineyards to allow each area to express itself fully. They spend far more time in the vineyard than the winery, tending to inordinately specific details of each vine. Once...

The lost village of Blagny, up in the hills between Puligny-Montrachet and Meursault in the Côte d’Or in Burgundy, is home to Domaine Comtesse de Chérisey. You may have heard the name “Blagny” before, attached to a bottle of premier cru Meursault-Blagny, or perhaps even a bottle of the increasingly rare Blagny rouge. This almost magical, lost-in-time corner of the world boasts a unique microclimate, with a slightly different average temperature, exposition, and soil than the rest of Burgundy. Vigneron Laurent Martelet creates the most evocative Chardonnays that emerge from this terroir. Comtesse de Chérisey is named in honor of Laurent's wife Hélène’s mother, who...