Ceritas and Halcón Winetasting Dinner

A large gang--about 50 of us--turned out recently to sample the wines of two producers over dinner in Oakland. The two producers are Ceritas, maker of single vineyard Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs; and Halcón Vineyards, owner of vineyards in the Yorkville Highlands AVA, and now producer of a Syrah called Alturas. The restaurant was Camino, and we sat at two very long tables, while the winemakers and vineyard owners walked around and talked to different groups of us for awhile, and answered our questions. The food was good, but there was a fairly long wait between courses, and the noise level in the dining room made for less than ideal conditions for everyone getting to hear what was being said. Still, it was good to get to know more about these producers, and to try more of their wines. I'd had the '05 Ceritas Porter-Bass Chardonnay and '07 Escarpa Pinot Noir before, and was impressed with them. I'd heard that Copain was making a Halcón Syrah, but this was my first chance to try both that wine and barrel samples of Halcón's own Alturas Syrah, from the 2009 and 2010 vintages. We also tried a Rudius blend of Mourvèdre and Grenache from Halcón fruit, which I was much less impressed with.

"Ceritas," according to the winery's website, means "mineral expression of the soil" in Spanish. What a handy word! Owner/winemaker John Raytek was assistant winemaker at Copain for six years, and helped launch Rhys, where he was a winemaker from 2002 through 2004. In addition to Ceritas, he currently serves as winemaker for Pfendler Vineyards. John's co-owner is Phoebe Bass, his fiancée, whose family owns Porter-Bass Vineyard, which was planted to Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in 1978. Their first vintage was 2005, when they made a Chardonnay from Porter-Bass and a Pinot Noir from an old vineyard called Escarpa. With the 2009 vintage they added a Ritchie Vineyard Chardonnay, and with the 2010 vintage, they'll add Pinot Noirs from Anderson Valley's Deermeadow Vineyard, and a vineyard in the Petaluma Gap called Pfendler–Helgren.

Paul and Valerie Gordon own Halcón, which they planted in 2004. According to Alan Rath's invitation to the event (Alan is a friend of the Gordons and a friend of mine), "Copain’s Hawks Butte [is] one of California’s finest cool climate Syrahs. This wine has established the Yorkville Highlands, at the eastern edge of Mendocino County’s Anderson Valley, as a premier location for growing Syrah. In reality, Hawks Butte vineyard is about half-way up Yorkville Mountain. The Butte itself is at 2500 feet, at the top of the mountain, and is owned by the Gordons." Half the fruit goes to Copain, and a small amount to Rudius. The Gordons have begun making their own Syrah, the Alturas, with the '09 vintage, with the help of winemaker Scott Shapley, who just happens to be Copain's Wells Guthrie's brother-in-law.

For more information about the wines, including my tasting notes, see below.

These are two terrific Chardonnays. I've had a lot of Chardonnays from the Ritchie Vineyard over the years, and this one was remarkable for its high acidity compared to your usual Ritchie Chardonnay. The Porter-Bass is thoroughly delicious and very appealing now. The Ritchie, which comes from a 40-year-old block of the vineyard planted to Wente clone, needs another one or two years of bottle age, but should be phenomenal at that point. I'm really delighted with the minerality and acidity on both of these Chardonnays.

• 2009 Ceritas Chardonnay Ritchie Vineyard 93 Points

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley

  Bright light canary yellow color; minerally, tart lemon, tart apple, seashell, floral nose; tasty, very poised, tart lemon, minerally palate with medium-plus lively acidity, needs 1-2 years; medium-plus finish 93+ points

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• 2009 Ceritas Chardonnay Porter-Bass Vineyard 94 Points

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley

  Bright light canary yellow color; rich, appealing, lemon nose; tasty, rich but poised, medium bodied, tart lemon palate with medium acidity; medium-plus finish

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Ceritas winemaker/owner John Raytek with Eno Wines' Sasha Verhage

John told us that Escarpa is a five acre vineyard that was planted to Swan clone Pinot Noir in 1978. It lies in a canyon above Occidental and just east of the ridge facing Bodega Bay. John and Phoebe converted the vineyard to biodynamic farming methods in 2008. It is a very slow ripening location, and John used no stems in 2009. This is a very intriguing, layered Pinot Noir, with a core of what I can only describe as salty raspberry puree. It needs a couple years of bottle age, but is well worth seeking out.

• 2009 Ceritas Pinot Noir Escarpa Vineyard 92 Points

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

  Dark garnet red color; focused tart cherry, ripe raspberry, cranberry nose; plush, tart raspberry, tart cherry, with a core of salty raspberry puree, needs 2 years; medium-plus finish 92+ points

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I liked a Rudius Syrah I had a couple years back, but I was not a big fan of this Mourvèdre/Grenache blend, mainly because of the strong sense of 2008 wild fire smoke that overwhelmed both the nose and the palate. I kept trying to figure out what was going on with this wine, and ended up sampling it from three different bottles. The TN below is from the best of those three bottles.

• 2008 Rudius Fion Bainise Halcon Vineyard 86 Points

  USA, California, North Coast, Yorkville Highlands

  Very dark red violet color; a little reduction, smoky, reticent tart black fruit nose; smoke taint, tangy black fruit, tart berry, chocolate palate with smoky finish; medium-plus finish (82% Mouvedre,18% Grenache; tried from 3 different bottles, and this note is on the best bottle, and highest score--variation was significant)

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Valerie and Paul Gordon, owners of Halcón

The Halcón Vineyard was planted primarily with Syrah from heritage clones from Hermitage and Côte-Rôtie. A south-facing slope of about two acres is planted to Mourvèdre and Grenache. Winemaker Scott Shapley was assistant winemaker for Novy, and then head winemaker at Crushpad. He is currently winemaker for Roessler Cellars as well as Halcón. Copain's Wells Guthrie advised on vineyard development, and holds a longterm lease on three acres of Halcón.

The 2009 Syrah was picked at 23.6 brix, and was totally destemmed and aged in French oak, 30% of which was new. Our 2009 barrel sample showed remarkable purity of fruit, and should be a gorgeous Syrah when it is released. The Copain 2008 version is still quite tight, but already showing a little bacon fat and lavender on the nose. Our 2010 Halcón barrel sample was also quite impressive, showing fine grained tannins and rich, roasted black fruit.

• 2009 Halcon Estate Syrah Alturas 92 Points

  USA, California, North Coast, Yorkville Highlands

  Barrel sample - opaque black red violet color; reticent, tart black fruit, tart blackberry nose; tight, tart black fruit, very tart blackberry palate with pure fruit and very firm, sweet tannins; long finish 92-94 points (no stems; 30% new French oak)

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• 2008 Copain Syrah Halcon Vineyard 92 Points

  USA, California, North Coast, Yorkville Highlands

  Opaque black red violet color; nice tart black fruit, lavender nose with a touch of bacon fat; tight, plush, tart blackberry, tart black fruit palate with firm sweet tannins; medium-plus finish 92+ points

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• 2010 Halcon Estate Syrah Alturas 92 Points

  USA, California, North Coast, Yorkville Highlands

  Barrel sample - lovely, roasted black fruit, lavender nose; tight, tasty, rich tart black fruit palate with fine grained tannins; medium-plus finish 92-94 points (no stems)

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Alan Rath and Halcón winemaker Scott Shapley