2017 Ceritas Cabernet Sauvignon Peter Martin Ray
Estimated value
Buying options
Tasting notes
Fully destemmed and allowed to warm up a bit before going into a concrete tank for fermentation with ambient yeasts and no additional temperature control. A combination of pumpovers and punchdowns are used with a goal of only moderate extraction. Spends between 30 and 36 months in 500-litre used French oak. Bottled unfined and unfiltered. Smells of dried blackcurrant, dried herbs and a hint of smoked meat. Intensely bright, juicy acidity makes the mouth water as flavours of sour cherry, rhubarb, plum skin, dried flowers and dried herbs have a gorgeous salinity and fleecy tannic texture that coats the mouth and squeezes. Elegant and still very youthful, with a lot of potential to improve further with age, though it's damn delicious right now. (AY)
Critic scores
Average Score
Jancis Robinson MW
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
Very dark garnet. Intense aromas of wet earth, dark black fruit and green herbs. Incredibly fine-grained, muscular tannins surround an explosively juicy core of black-cherry and wet-earth flavours that takes the breath away. Deeply savoury, this wine reminds me somehow of tunnelling underground, a sensation enhanced by a stony quality that is quite compelling. I would give this wine a few years to truly show its stuff, but it will likely blossom into remarkable aromatics as it improves for more than a decade. This is Californian Cabernet like few have made it since the 1970s. (AY)
The medium to deep ruby colored 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Peter Martin Ray has classic scents of fresh blackcurrants, graphite, cedar, exotic spices and chocolate-covered cherries with gentle herbal notes. It's medium to full-bodied with a firm, fresh, uplifted frame and long finish.
The 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Peter Martin Ray Vineyard is exquisitely beautiful. It is also much more refined than I would have expected in this very challenging year. The warmth of the summer has given the 2017 softer contours and a bit less savoriness than is often the norm, and yet it retains the mid-weight sense of structure found in so many 2017 California Cabernets. Best of all, the 2017 will drink nicely with just a few years in bottle. This is such a delicious and inviting wine.
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.