2018 Ceritas Pinot Noir Trout Gulch Vineyard
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Tasting notes
This wine has a shockingly intense perfume of black raspberries and dried flowers. Equally intense raspberry and black-raspberry flavours are welded to a technicolour floral backdrop that shimmers with exotic aromatics as the wine moves sensuously across the palate. Faint gauzy tannins billow through the mouth as the fruit and a faintly saline minerality make the mouth water. Utterly remarkable in its perfumed intensity, complexity and elegance. Easily one of the best Pinot Noirs made in California. (AY)
Critic scores
Average Score
Jancis Robinson MW
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
More reviews and scores
Medium ruby, the 2018 Pinot Noir Trout Gulch has warm, inviting aromas of cinnamon, baked blackberries, iodine and warm rhubarb with loads of spicy nuances. The light to medium-bodied palate is bright, spicy and expressive, with a firm, finely grained frame and great freshness to lift the long finish.
The 2018 Pinot Noir Trout Gulch Vineyard brings together all of the elements that make the Ceritas wines so appealing. Pliant and rich, yet also classically taut, the 2018 is nevertheless a wine of total allure and sensuality. Sweet red cherry, mint, pomegranate, wild flowers and spice infuse the Trout Gulch with notable complexity, but it is the wine's overall balance that makes it one of the most compelling Pinots of the vintage. In this vintage, John and Phoebe Raytek chose to open up the canopies a bit on the own-rooted Mt. Eden clone Pinot, which exposed the fruit to more sun and gave the grapes that extra touch of richness that works so well in playing off the wine's natural tension. The 2018 is simply a magical wine. I would be thrilled to own it.
About the producer
Created in 2005 by John Raytek, Ceritas is one of California’s most exciting producers. The project is focused on making single-site wines from Northern California’s coastal regions, largely Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.