Ceritas Porter Bass Vineyard Chardonnay Sonoma Coast 2021

Description

Ceritas is a stunning producer of very cool-climate Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from sites along the northern Californian coast. Led by husband and wife duo, John and Phoebe Raytek, the wines are not typically Californian. The Chardonnays channel all the focus and salinity of the Pacific Ocean with laser-like precision. Crushed chalk, oyster shell and lime zest are typical characters of these wines, closer in style to Grand Cru Chablis than anywhere else in Burgundy. Perched like a saddle between ridgelines in Pocket Canyon, the Porter Bass vineyard is the beneficiary of cooling morning and afternoon fog, which rolls in reliably from the ocean. Shale and fractured sandstone soils are well suited to the Chardonnay planted in 1980 to the Old Wente Clone, followed in 2001 by Pinot Noir plantings of Swan and Calera clones. The vineyard is farmed biodynamically, with our blocks located on the north facing side, allowing for an extended growing season. 

'Being objective about this site is impossible for us: Phoebe grew up here after her parents moved from the east coast in 1980 expressly to farm this land. Why a family would uproot and relocate to a farm near the quiet town of Forestville is a story in itself. Suffice it to say that the lure of restoring an abandoned property on rolling hills, surrounded by redwood forest, a mere eight miles inland from the Pacific Ocean was simply too great to resist. And so the restoration began in 1980.'

In the vineyard we allow our sustainable farming practices to be dictated by observation and empiricism rather than by prescriptive farming. All of our vineyard sites are either farmed bio-dynamically or are in the initial stages of being converted to biodynamic farming methods. We believe that biodynamic farming methods, and focused and site-specific attention, give the vines the greatest opportunity to experience each growing season, to respond accordingly, and ultimately to yield grapes with the unmistakable flavours and smells of their time and place. In the winery, we keep things simple. We look at winemaking from a standpoint that owes more to tradition than it does to cutting-edge innovation ” we more often find ourselves trying to understand what not to do rather than what to do. The crafting of each vintage is like a journey, in which nature sets its own course. Our role is to adapt, to proceed with humility, and to learn.'

96 Points! The 2021 Chardonnay Porter-Bass is silky, aromatic and finely cut. All the Ceritas signatures are amplified, but there is not too much of anything. Soft curves wrap around citrus, floral and gently earthy notes that open gradually with a bit of aeration. In 2021, the Porter-Bass Chardonnay is sublime. Antonio Galloni, Vinous'