2018 Ceritas Pinot Noir Occidental Vineyard
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Tasting notes
The 2018 Pinot Noir Occidental offers its classic crunchy red and black berry fruit on the nose with accents of saline, tree bark, violet and licorice. The light to medium-bodied palate has a fresh, chalky frame and perfumed fruit character, finishing youthfully wound. This will need plenty more time in bottle to show its best.
Critic scores
Average Score
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
Erin Brooks, Wine Advocate
More reviews and scores
The 2018 Pinot Noir Occidental Vineyard is a gorgeous, wonderfully complex wine endowed with myriad shades of dimension. Blood orange, mint and spice add brilliant top notes to a Pinot built on a real sense of vertical intensity. The Occidental just soars out of the glass with stunning depth and pedigree to burn. I would give it a few years in bottle to come together, but it is pretty special, even in the early going. A change in pruning in this site yielded a Pinot that is just a bit less overt than some previous editions, although the vintage is, naturally, a factor as well.
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.