Visit to Ceritas

WINE TALK
1

Phoebe (co owner along with her husband John) hosted my wife and I at their facility in Santa Rosa earlier this week. We tasted thru several 12s from the bottle - Chardonnay from Porter-Bass and Charles Heintz in the Sonoma Coast and Pinnacle in the Santa Cruz Mtns; Pinot Noir from Hellenthal and Escarpa, both Sonoma coast sites.

These wines are well known on the board and have a passionate fan base. I really enjoyed the Sonoma Coast Chardonnays. These are reference point wines in my opinion. Beautifully balanced, crisp, focused white wines. I was less enamored with the Pinnacle chard as it showed too much acidity for my palate. Acid feaks will love it, just not my cup of tea. The pinots were both a bit hard to judge but I think they will develop into very good wines. Again, these too are abundant with acidity in line with the intent of the winemaker. All made to go with food and less inclined to please the cocktail wine crowd.

It was a pleasure to chat with Phoebe about their progress so far and where they’d like to go in the future. It seems they have captivated a loyal following in a short time and the wines I tasted reinforced this is a CA producer to buy for those who favor balanced, food friendly chard and Pinot.

2

Sounds like a nice visit. I really appreciate that Phoebe and John are so good about hosting visitors- I tasted there before I joined the list, they were easy and laid back about appointments.

3

Thanks for posting John. I’m hoping we can visit in October if harvest doesn’t consume all their time.

4

Thanks for this. Definitely on the list for a future visit.

5

Dang it, I should’ve bought more… [head-bang.gif]

6

+1. Exactly what I thought!

7

I’ve only had a few of the Ceritas wines, but loved them all. Joined the list recently, despite the fact that the last thing I need is more wine!

8

I tried visiting Ceritas last October and it didn’t work out, so you may want to call well in advance :frowning: .

9

Joseph- yep, it will depend if they have any cycles and they won’t have a feel until a few weeks before our trip.

10

David,

If I could drink from only one provider, it would be Phoebe and Johns Ceritas.

we were just there and she was kind enough to back fill a bottle we had mistakenly so I had a vertical back to 2009.

Being an acid freak, these wines fit me perfect, and I love them as much alone as I do with food.