Ceritas Chardonnay Carex 2021
VINTAGE : 2021
COUNTRY : USA
REGION/APPELLATION : California, Sonoma Coast
VARIETALS : Chardonnay
Ceritas’ first vintage was in 2005. Our small collective team, led by founder, John Raytek, can draw a map of the northern California coastal regions, including West Sonoma Coast, Santa Cruz Mountains, Moon Mountain, and Napa. We know this place inside and out – we ride our bikes through its rolling hills, we surf in its frigid waters, we take our kids mushroom foraging in the fog-drenched conifers – and you can see it in our wines. The wines are of this place and us.
We allow each vineyard to be our teacher, with us as the students. This ongoing process of listening to and learning from each site, every vintage, will enable us to discover and share what each site is capable of expressing. We are continually reminded of the simple principle that most of the vital work occurs in the vineyard, and the role of the winemaker is to allow the vineyard to express itself in a balanced, inimitable wine. We are obsessed with the traditions of winemaking and creating. We are fanatically devoted to excellence. Insatiably curious.
Our wines are of time and place sourced from unique sites not shared by many or anyone. We hope to be creators in a legacy that will serve our generation and generations to come.
We’ve looked for Chardonnay of this caliber on the West Sonoma Coast for a long time. There is little world-class Chardonnay to go around from this area. We were approached by one of our favorite winemakers, Andy Smith of DuMol, in 2018 about being the first and only winery to make wine from their estate site located in the coldest part of Green Valley.
The vineyard was planted in 2004, using a unique selection of Old Wente Chardonnay, renowned for producing tiny clusters of zippy Chardonnay. The site is planted meter by meter, requiring the vines to ripen 10-12 clusters, resulting in a depth of flavor and complexity similar to Porter-Bass. Porter-Bass is cultivated using the same selection of Old Wente. Being so closely planted, the fruit sees little in the way of direct sunlight allowing the skins to thicken and provide a tannic backbone which should result in a wine from this vineyard aging a long time.