CERITAS AND HALCON WINE DINNER, MARCH 30, 2011 - Camino Restaurant, Oakland (4/4/2011)
About 50 people gathered on a Wednesday night to enjoy a great dinner, and some fabulous wines, first from Ceritas Wines, then three wines from the Halcon Vineyard in Yorkville Highlands. As a disclaimer, my wife and I are good friends with Paul and Valerie Gordon, who own and farm the Halcon vineyard, and we’re also unabashed fans of what John Raytek and Phoebe Bass have been doing with their Ceritas wines since we first tasted their inaugural 2005 vintage. I’ll just copy what I wrote on the invitation to the dinner:
I think many of you already know of Ceritas, owned by John Raytek and Phoebe Bass. John was, until recently, the Assistant Winemaker at Copain Wines, where he was an integral part of creating some of California’s best Pinot and Syrah wines. Phoebe’s family owns the Porter-Bass vineyard, in cool climate country to the west of Forestville, planted to Pinot and Chardonnay since 1978. You may know the Porter-Bass vineyard by another name: Mays Canyon, used by Littorai to designate two of their Chardonnay and Pinot bottlings. John has been making Chardonnay from Porter-Bass, and Pinot from an old but little-known vineyard called Escarpa since the 2005 vintage. These are exceptional wines, from truly cool climate vineyards, showing depth and complexity some might not think possible in California at alcohol levels in the 12s and 13s. The production is exceedingly small, though now that John has left Copain to focus on Ceritas he is working with some additional vineyard sources to expand the portfolio at the same quality level. John doesn’t just make the wine, he is intimately involved in the vineyard work and management, expressing his vision through what happens in both the vineyard and winery. We’ll get to try the most recent vintages of Chardonnay and Pinot, and possibly a barrel sample or two.
Since no man can live on Chardonnay and Pinot alone, we will be joined by Paul and Valerie Gordon, owners of Halcon Vineyards. The Syrah drinkers in the crowd will know Copain’s Hawks Butte as one of California’s finest cool climate Syrahs. This wine has established the Yorkville Highlands, at the eastern edge of Mendocino County’s Anderson Valley, as a premier location for growing Syrah. In reality, Hawks Butte vineyard is about half-way up Yorkville Mountain. The Butte itself is at 2500 feet, at the top of the mountain, and is owned by the Gordons, who bought the property and planted Halcon vineyard starting in 2004. Paul and Valerie are about as dedicated a couple as you will find: though their ultimate goal is to someday live and work on the vineyard, for now they continue with their day jobs in the South Bay, and make the 300 mile round trip almost every weekend to work the vineyard. About half the fruit goes to Wells Guthrie at Copain, who made his first Halcon designated Syrah from the 2008 vintage, and a small amount to Jeff Ames and his Rudius Wines. Even at this early stage, it is strikingly evident that Halcon is going to rival Hawk’s Butte and Alder Springs for the claim of finest Mendocino County Syrah. It is a wine of brooding power, violets, and minerality, truly reminiscent of some of the best Northern Rhone wines. Starting in 2009, Paul and Valerie have made their own Syrah under the Halcon label, with the help of winemaker Scott Shapley. They will pour the Copain, Rudius, and Halcon bottlings, providing a fascinating comparison of the expressions of different winemakers.
Flight 1
We started with two recently bottled Ceritas Chardonnays, and a Pinot, all from the 2009 vintage
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2009 Ceritas Chardonnay Porter-Bass Vineyards - USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley
Tasted alongside the 09 Ritchie, this is more focused and chiseled to the Ritchie’s more round and voluptuous character; tremendous depth, some enticing minerality, and a touch of lemon on the long finish. A fabulous Chardonnay, in the top tier of what California can produce. (94 pts.) -
2009 Ceritas Chardonnay Ritchie Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley
Deep, rich, voluptuous, intense stone fruit, all without showing any sign of overripeness, together with great acidity and overall balance. Too many Cali wines get the label “burgundian” but this one absolutely deserves it, and would not be out of place in a 1er Cru Meursault tasting. (93 pts.) -
2009 Ceritas Pinot Noir Escarpa Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
Gorgeous deep, vibrant dark cherry fruit, brings an intensity of flavor without any hint of sweetness or ripeness; great acidity, some nice touches of mineral and tea, fantastic structure and balance. Just terrific. (94 pts.)
Flight 2
These two syrahs are both from the Halcon vineyard, one made by Wells Guthrie at Copain, one made by Scott Shapley for Halcon Vineyards. For me, they were a fascinating view into the differences of vintage and winemaking, with the Copain wine having been fermented with 50% whole cluster, and the Halcon Alturas being completely destemmed. Neither is “better,” just different, and both amazingly good wines.
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2008 Copain Syrah Halcon Vineyard - USA, California, North Coast, Yorkville Highlands
Fascinating, complex nose, and an interesting distinction between this and the Halcon Alturas, which was completely destemmed (both are outstanding, just different facets of winemaking). The Copain Halcon is deep and dark, boysenberry/blackberry fruit, very structured, with fairly grippy tannins, beautifully complex with hints of new leather and green pepper. This is a wine that out-norths the Northern Rhone. (94 pts.) -
2009 Halcon Vineyards Syrah Alturas - USA, California, North Coast, Yorkville Highlands
Deep, dark, brooding blackberry/boysenberry fruit, intense and rich, even at it’s quite low alcohol level, with medium levels of fine tannins. A brilliant mouthful of intense, focused syrah that is a marvel to drink now and should age easily for a decade and more. (94 pts.)
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