2020 Ceritas Pinot Noir Elliott Vineyard
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Tasting notes
The 2020 Pinot Noir Elliott is a potent, brooding wine. Swaths of tannin wrap around a core of dark red/purplish fruit, sage, graphite, scorched earth and licorice. Deceptive in its mid-weight structure, the 2020 packs a serious punch. It is one of the more reticent wines in this range. I would give it a few years to settle down.
Critic scores
Average Score
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
Jeb Dunnuck
More reviews and scores
The 2020 Pinot Noir Elliott Vineyard is entirely sourced from the Mt. Eden clone, planted on blue schist and quartz soils, and utilized 40% whole cluster fermentation. It is bright with pure, poppy red fruit, fresh herbs, and wet stone. The palate offers a medium build, with rosehip, fresh cranberry, and stony minerality, and the perfume lingers on the palate long after the wine has dissipated. This is a beautifully lifted wine with such freshness and purity to drink over the next 15 or more years.
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.