Posted from CellarTracker
Nice, thanks.
Glad to hold a few.
Nice description “speaks with an inner voice all the way through”
I’ve only had the 2014. A revelation. Perhaps my favorite wine from Ceritas (and yet their least talked about).
Anyone buying the 2019 PETER MARTIN RAY CABERNET SAUVIGNON?
email says the “Release is Open”
Yep. But reeling at the price hike.
This is my first year looking at a Cab purchase. What was the pricing last year?
I paid $90 for the ‘16s. How much were the ‘18s?
Opened a 2015 a bit back; it was drinking beautifully. To me it had resonances of old-style Bordeaux or Napa for that matter, though I gave it a lot of air. Their Pinot and Chards certainly aren’t shabby, especially the latter. Not a buyer these days, just because I own so much, too much wine. I know, a familiar complaint, but I guess I also often prefer trying things I don’t yet know–almost a kind of wine voyeurism.
…these days. It’s classic old school CA, imo. Head trained mountain vines directly adjacent to Mount Eden’s Estate Cab (which is on vsp).
We did a Peter Martin Ray Cab producers’ tasting early this year. The '16 of this was open for business and mighty impressive. The '17 and '18 were tight and compact , with obviously a lot there. Similarly, with Birichino, the '17 was amazing and the '18 was tight. The sole ('17) Jaimee Motley was open. We also had a vertical of older non-commercial vintages from the vineyard manager, also excellent.
I seem to recall I paid around $90 for the '18.
That is a big jump $35.
$95 was the release price for 2018. So a $30 hike or 31.5%.
The 19 Cabernet was poured at the open house this summer and it was really good.
Yeah that’s definitely a huge year over year price hike. Being a first time buyer of their cabs this year I’ll be in for a few. However next release could be a different story if the hikes continue.
Hopefully we don’t see anything drastic.
I started buying with the 16 vintage at $90. At $125 I don’t see myself taking the full allocation.
Just read on Skurnik’s website that this wine has 70% new French oak on it. Knock me over with a feather - did not think that. Though it was much, much less than that. It really buries it well. The extended aging before release helps, I imagine.
Mountain fruit can suck up new oak and not show it. There have been plenty of SCM Cabs done in 100% new oak that you’d think were 100% neutral. I was nervous putting my '15 Saratoga Cab in a new half barrel. (A significantly higher surface to volume ratio than a regular barrel, for those reading at home.) Doesn’t show, tastes like Mount Eden. Edit to add that that was just one year in oak.
Isn’t French oak less dominant than American oak?
The most bold, obnoxious, atrocious oaks I’ve had were from several French coopers. There’s such a range that “French oak” is a near meaningless term. There are certainly some very low-impact, elegant French oaks. There’s quite a range with American, but other than the kiln dried stuff they use in Rioja, it’s not as dominant as the worst French. But, some people can’t take even very low levels of some of the typical characteristics, which is a statement of preference rather than how “loud” the oak is in a wine.
Oak is whole other ball of wax that perhaps is for another thread. I can never learn enough. I use AO mainly because it’s the environmentally right thing to do when we live here, but also because I like the taste of it. And if you keep it subtle, it can really enhance certain wines.
In my view, AO is front loaded - it hits hard first, but integrates much quicker than FO. FO is back loaded - it can feel like sucking on a 2x4 for years until it finally emerges into something beautiful. AO is a little bit sweeter and can help tannic or austere wines ease up a bit. I never taste the dill component it sometimes get accused of, but I do taste the coconut. It’s probably my least favorite part of AO, the coconut part. But by going with 36 month air-dried staves and a lighter toast, I can almost eliminate them.
Like Ridge has been fond of doing - stumping people blindly on oak. What you think is AO vs FO, is not always that clear cut. And in an aged wine, they blur together even more.
I wish more producers would experiment with AO and be proud of it - as it is now, a ton of wineries use them, but are somehow ashamed of mentioning it. It’s silly.
Alcohol is an extractant. The higher the abv, the more oak it tends to, well… extract. Ceritas cabs tend to be pretty low in abv, barely crossing 13%. That makes a big difference in how the fruit takes up the oak. Tasty juice for sure. Had a bottle back in September and I keep trying to keep my hands off my remaining bottles for a while. Tough to do when they are surprisingly approachable now.
