2013 Chardonnay Marena

This is somewhat a mixed set of wines from Ceritas. John Raytek could not possibly be working with better vineyard sites. And the wines are good. But they should be more than good. They should be among the very finest in Sonoma. My impression is that Raytek might be picking too early, because the wines feel as though they aren't fully developed, much like biting into an unripe peach. To be fair, all of the wines I tasted are 2013s, a year in which high yields resulted in dilution issues across the board. It will be interesting to see if 2014 and 2015 - years in which yields are lower - are markedly different.

There is a lot to look forward to in this set of new and upcoming releases from Ceritas. John Raytek and Phoebe Bass draw from some of the top sites in the Santa Cruz Mountains, Anderson Valley and the Sonoma Coast to craft brilliant Chardonnays and Pinots built on energy. Stylistically, the Ceritas wines are incredibly transparent, which makes them great choices for readers who want to explore and understand the attributes of some of these vineyard sites. This year, I was especially drawn to the Pinot Noirs, which are generally more complete wines. Raytek and Bass like to pick on the earlier side, which is especially evident in the Chardonnays, where that style appears at times forced upon the vineyards, while in Pinot Noir the wines often come across as more natural. That is a very small critique at this level, though, as the wines are delicious across the board.