Oh my goodness! This just arrived last week, and the winemakers suggested opening one and putting the others away. They might last that long!
Briefly, an awesome mouthfeel already. Viscosity. Lemon, lemon verbena, some white floral notes. Acid in check (I am acid averse). If this continues to develop, it will be astonishing. For now, I wish I had made this.
Merrill, thanks for the tasting note. Now all I have to do is read your notes over and over…and keep from prematurely popping one of my three bottles…
Yes I am with Steve. I saw the note to pop one now and said, no way! Happy to piggy back on others to determine when to crack open my three! Thanks for taking one for the team Merrill!
I had one glass. I will check back in on it tomorrow and report back. I had 6, now I have 5 and most of 1.
Merrill, I’ve found Ceritas Chardonnay shows initial brilliance, and then shifts into a clamped-down phase before blossoming at about 7 years.
Merrill, thanks for your thoughts. My cellar extends back into 2005 with mags and 750’s. This has been an obvious add to my cellar each year. A wonderful vineyard.
What do you all think about Porter Bass Estate Chardonnay?
Regarding the Ceritas, I put it in the refrigerator overnight with the cork placed back in. A sip proves that (what I found previously, too) Ceritas does not show well cold. I let it come to room temperature, and my perception of the acidity has increased. Still a nice drink. But I won’t touch my other five, and for those of you who only have 3, hold 'em! It’s an extremely good wine that I believe will only get better.
My introduction to Ceritas was the 2011 Peter Martin Ray. Since that vintage, I have preferred the Porter-Bass.
I just cracked open the 2016 Marena. Really lovely wine. This is the entry level Chardonnay and it is really fabulous – lovely acidity, salinity, lemon, with a very very slight hint of vanilla. This is winemaking with a nice deft touch. I completely agree with you Merrill about temperature. Cellar temp is ideal – fridge is too cold. So I put it in fridge between glasses, then take it out five minutes or more before the next pour… I am not touching my P-Bs at the moment!
Ceritas makes absolutely fabulous wine.
Introduced it to the in-laws over the holiday…then laughed my evil laugh. Spoiling palates is a fun pass-time.