2023 Mt. Pajaro Chardonnay
Estimated value
Buying options
Tasting notes
The 2023 Chardonnay Mt. Pajaro, from the Rhys development in the Santa Cruz Mountains, has good energy, but it is also heavily reduced. In my experience, wines like this do not improve with age. This starts to fall apart with air. Unfortunately, the Mt. Pajaro Chardonnay is a pass.
Critic scores
Average Score
Audrey Frick, jebdunnuck.com
Jeb Dunnuck
More reviews and scores
A new wine in the range, the 2023 Chardonnay Mt. Pajaro comes from a site owned by Rhys in the Santa Cruz Mountains, close to Trout Gulch and plated with meter-by-meter spacing and curated clusters. This wine boasts a shade deeper yellow hue and is savory with aromas of bright fantastic reduction (feels like Burgundy), dark stones, beeswax, green apples, and white pineapples, as well as savory and mineral notes. This would be a great wine to throw into a blind tasting with a great white Burgundy. It’s medium to full-bodied, with a silky, profound, stony texture, a note of lemon oil, and pristine clarity. Just when I think these whites can't get better, I taste this is one, clearly one of the best white wines from Ceritas. Drink over the coming 20 years.
A new wine in the range, the 2023 Chardonnay Mt. Pajaro comes from a site owned by Rhys in the Santa Cruz Mountains, close to Trout Gulch and plated with meter-by-meter spacing and curated clusters. This wine boasts a shade deeper yellow hue and is savory with aromas of bright fantastic reduction (feels like Burgundy), dark stones, beeswax, green apples, and white pineapples, as well as savory and mineral notes. This would be a great wine to throw into a blind tasting with a great white Burgundy. It’s medium to full-bodied, with a silky, profound, stony texture, a note of lemon oil, and pristine clarity. Just when I think these whites can't get better, this is clearly one of the best white wines from Ceritas. Drink over the coming 20 years. The team from Ceritas are continuing to push the bar steadily higher, never resting on their laurels. The 2023 range from them is not to be missed.
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.