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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 91.5 pts. and median of 91 pts. in 64 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by SoundinBetween on 2/10/2023: Medium lemon in the glass, with aromas of white flowers, lemon, and a hint of chalk. Medium-bodied with a sappy finish highlighting citrus again, drinking well but will not improve & on the downslope today. (559 views) | | | Tasted by Mark1npt on 1/10/2023 & rated 94 points: Built for those that need something more than buttery Napa. My first of this provider. There's a great nose of honeysuckle, cream and balanced acidity. Some citrus, apple and pear with a bead of salinity. Very nice for starters! Thanks, Ken! (1785 views) | | | Tasted by Seafoam Manor on 11/14/2022 & rated 91 points: Not at all your typical CA Chardonnay. Lean, but with excellent acidity, keeping this very light on its feet. You get a big dose of lemon curd, bits of lime and strong mineral and oyster shell notes. Probably lacks some of the depth and complexity that you get from the best Ceritas wines, but this was still really good. The Chablis-like comparisons are not out of place. I don't think this is any danger of falling apart, but it's also not something I would look to hold too much longer. (597 views) | | | Tasted by jjct on 7/4/2022: Very light on its feet, with laser acidity and focus. Minerals and lemon. Very enjoyable. (634 views) | | | Tasted by Grape_ape on 9/6/2019: Brought to an offline, paired against a 2015 Cameron Clos Electrique chard. Ceritas showed more maturity given the three year age difference. Showed nice lemon curd, minerals, and rocks. (1986 views) | | | Tasted by David_T on 5/3/2019 & rated 91 points: Lemon & mineral aromas. The palate matches adding herbal & yellow apple notes. Fully mature, medium acid/minerals. Unlikely to improve further but should drink well through its 10th birthday. (1592 views) | | | Tasted by acidqueen on 4/28/2019 & rated 91 points: First whiff said lemon peel and jasmine. Tastes like lemon curd, with a creamy lemon roundness followed by sea water and dashi. Strangely, this does actually remind me of a softer style Chablis. I usually don’t say this because most of the time on CT when people say a California Chardonnay tastes like Chablis they are dead wrong, but something about this one strikes the same chord. Nice. (1654 views) | | | Tasted by acidqueen on 8/4/2018 & rated 91 points: Lots of lemon curd. A bit soft on opening, but firmed up with more air. Longer decant? It held up well to the mildly spicy red pepper in our food, and seemed to be better for it. (1974 views) | | | Tasted by alanr on 7/23/2018 & rated 91 points: Medium hay gold in color, starts out with some nice medium intensity fruit, good acidity, then turns a bit tight, losing some depth through the mid-late palate, finishing quite mineral, with just a hint of saline. Would like just a bit more depth and intensity.
Edit: well, the wine was originally open and aerated for an hour or so, but now it's had another couple of hours, and seems to be gaining intensity and depth, more saline through the finish, and still that nice steely mineraly aftertaste. A unique Chardonnay, I can't think of anything else in California like this. (2337 views) | | | Tasted by Matt T on 7/10/2018 & rated 92 points: Lots of flowers and fruit. Good balance. Drink or hold. (1366 views) | | | Tasted by Nutty08 on 5/13/2018 & rated 92 points: Bright, mostly lemon curd on the most and palate. Given the age has a plush mouthfeel, though still tart on the finish. Finishes with steel and stone nuances. (1492 views) | | | Tasted by dougie on 3/3/2018 & rated 93 points: Beautiful. A bit of everything while bring balanced and lemon. Low alc. (1477 views) | | | Tasted by Matt T on 9/27/2017 & rated 93 points: Very impressive and balanced. Lemon, cream, and gunflint on this. Excellent complexity. Drink or hold. (1490 views) | | | Tasted by *Vine* on 9/24/2017: Popped and poured, pale straw tinged with green. Delightful aromas of lemon verbena, green apple, honeysuckle, sea spray and an impression of chalky minerals. Moderate body, deceptively concentrated. Sour apples, stone fruits, sliced pear and even a hint of the tropical...awesome fruit. The finish is accentuated by an impression of saline minerals that's carried by plus acidity. This is truly fantastic, just some killer Chard!
Quick comment: If opening soon, give this a good 45-60 minutes -- goes from "good" to "killer" that quickly. (1506 views) | | | Tasted by Frank Murray III on 8/5/2017: Opened and added some chill via some ice. Then, to the glass. Bit of oak shows, both toasted and vanilla aromatics. Lots of lemon here, light river rock and very much medium weight. Basic complexity, more elegant in tone. Ready to drink, I'd say. (1777 views) | | | Tasted by Matt T on 5/14/2017 & rated 91 points: Really nice, complex chardonnay. Crisp, fruit forward, lingering finish of tropical fruits. (1637 views) | | | Tasted by J @ y H @ c k on 4/1/2017 & rated 88 points: It's not that this is a bad wine, but let's say this note is the anti-AFWE backlash. You think maybe they could have had a bit more patience and let the grapes ripen a bit. It is not necessary to pick the grapes so early that you are worried about the effect of the high acidity on your tooth enamel. I checked the website and there are no tech sheets, so I can't tell if it is actually or perceived acidity.However, the ABV is 12.2%. And it's bone dry. You have to go out of your way to get such low ABV in California in a bone dry wine.
There are flavors other than searing acidity and they are nice flavors. I wish they had waited a few weeks and let the acidity subside so that the fruits would have precedent. There is pear, tart apple and dry honey. Some orange peel. A bit of wood. (1974 views) | | | Tasted by t_moderne on 10/6/2016 & rated 89 points: Opened, poured a little out to offer a glass to a friend, re-corked and then served about 30 minutes later.
Light color, reminding me of a sauvignon blanc.
Nose shows grapefruit peel and some honeysuckle.
Fresh flavor of lemon, peach skin and white grapefruit. Good acidity but not shrill or overly tart. Light in flavor but enjoyable and quite fresh.
Label states 12.2% abv. (2182 views) | | | Tasted by wondersofwine on 9/29/2016 & rated 87 points: 12,2% abv. Pale gold color--less color than the other CA Chards I've
been opening this month. Delicate white flowers on the nose (apple blossoms?) verbena, and hint of celery leaves. This was quite acidic on the palate. While I like this, I have had other Chards from Ceritas that I would rate higher than this one. I had this with shrimp scampi and wild rice. It had enough acid to cut through a creamy sauce on pasta or fish. (1945 views) | | | Tasted by Oskiwawa on 9/17/2016 flawed bottle: corked (2017 views) | | | Tasted by dougie on 9/13/2016 & rated 92 points: Lemon and citrus. A touch of cream. Light and sharp acid. Wow! (1858 views) | | | Tasted by gmbdds on 8/28/2016 & rated 91 points: Lemon, pear and chive/green onion notes. Piercing acidity and really great focus. Compelling wine done well. (1920 views) | | | Tasted by B Paul on 6/30/2016: Similar to my previous bottle. Drinking well. (1739 views) | | | Tasted by Burgundy Al on 5/31/2016 & rated 91 points: Chardonnay Shootout (Chez Kailin - Northbrook IL): Tasted blind in young Chardonnay flight. Orchard fruit throughout with floral notes. Moderate weight and nunace. Well balanced. Easy to enjoy. I mistakenly thought this was from Burgundy. (2531 views) | | | Tasted by MAXIMUM SATISFACTION on 4/30/2016 & rated 91 points: Closed off but still crisp and fresh. Lots of lemon, toasted bread, flowers, and stone. Needs several more years. (1914 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| By Antonio Galloni
Vinous, Sonoma, Anderson Valley and Beyond: New Releases (Jan 2015) (1/1/2015)
(Ceritas Chardonnay Pinnacle Vineyard Santa Cruz Mountains) Subscribe to see review text. | By Josh Raynolds
Vinous, May/June 2014, IWC Issue #174
(Ceritas Chardonnay Pinnacle Vineyard Santa Cruz Mountains) Subscribe to see review text. | By Antonio Galloni
Vinous, Sonoma and Beyond: New Releases (Feb 2014)
(Ceritas Chardonnay Pinnacle Vineyard Santa Cruz Mountains) Subscribe to see review text. |
NOTE: Scores and reviews are the property of Vinous. (manage subscription channels) |
| Ceritas Producer websiteChardonnay The Chardonnay GrapeUSAAmerican wine has been produced since the 1500s, with the first widespread production beginning in New Mexico in 1628. Today, wine production is undertaken in all fifty states, with California producing 84% of all U.S. wine. The continent of North America is home to several native species of grape, including Vitis labrusca, Vitis riparia, Vitis rotundifolia, and Vitis vulpina, but the wine-making industry is based almost entirely on the cultivation of the European Vitis vinifera, which was introduced by European settlers. With more than 1,100,000 acres (4,500 km2) under vine, the United States is the fourth-largest wine producing country in the world, after Italy, Spain, and France.California2021 vintage: "Unlike almost all other areas of the state, the Russian River Valley had higher than normal crops in 2021, which has made for a wine of greater generosity and fruit forwardness than some of its stablemates." - Morgan Twain-Peterson Santa Cruz Mountains Santa Cruz Mountains Winegrowers Association | Wikipedia
Once referred to by wine writers as the Chaine d'Or -- or "golden chain" -- the Santa Cruz Mountains AVA sits above Silicon Valley, running along the craggy range next to the Pacific on some of the prettiest parts of Northern California. The area supports more than 75 wineries, despite being limited by geography and high land prices.
In 1981 the Santa Cruz Mountains Viticultural Appellation became federally recognized, one of the first American viticultural areas to be defined by geophysical and climatic factors. The appellation encompasses the Santa Cruz Mountain range, from Half Moon Bay in the north, to Mount Madonna in the south. The east and west boundaries are defined by elevation, extending down to 800 feet in the east and 400 feet in the west. |
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