Ceritas 'Zephyr' Chardonnay, Sonoma Coast, USA 2022

Ceritas is a small, highly regarded California winery founded in 2005 by winemaker John Raytek and his wife Phoebe Bass, focused on producing terroir-driven Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from cool coastal sites like the Sonoma Coast and Santa Cruz Mountains. The philosophy is deeply rooted in minimal intervention and organic/biodynamic farming, with native fermentations and restrained oak to let each vineyard speak clearly. Known for their precision, minerality, and “Burgundian” sensibility, Ceritas wines are produced in tiny quantities and have become a cult favorite among sommeliers and collectors seeking purity, tension, and site expression.

"A bright straw yellow hue, the 2022 Chardonnay Zephyr comes from the coastally influenced region between Bodega Headlands and the Sebastopol Hills, where cool coastal air envelops the vines. The soils provide shallow, exposed topsoils, slowing the vine's maturation and extending the growing season. The grapes develop thicker skins, which has resulted in producing a striking and savory wine. In the glass, the wine opens with nuanced reductive and flinty aromas that give way to notes of wet stone, almond skin, white peach, saline, and fresh flowers. The palate offers a medium-bodied frame, concentrated richness of extract, and notable structure, with lasting notes of lemon balm through a long and rounded finish. It deserves a few years in cool cellars and will begin to show its best in the next several years." Jeb Dunnuck 96