"Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com 94 Points
The 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon Colima is an exceptional wine, especially for the year. It's a blend from Paratus on Mt. Veeder, Lupina on Moon Mountain and Peter Martin Ray, Marianis and Black Ridge, all in the Santa Cruz Mountains, the latter two planted with cuttings from Peter Martin Ray. John Raytek's original idea was to bottle a number of single vineyard Cabernets and the Colima, as the entry-level Cabernet. Vintage conditions did not allow all of those wines to be made, but the best lots were blended into this wine, with notable success. The 2021 range will include four Cabernets.
Dark and imposing in the glass, the 2020 Colima is packed with blackberry, gravel, incense, dried flowers and licorice. In 2020, the Ceritas Cabernet is especially potent. There is some hardness to the contours, but that is a pretty small critique for a year in which conditions tested winemakers to the maximum.Drinking Window 2027 - 2040"
The mission at Ceritas is to craft single vineyard expressions of place through Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The sources for their fruit along the Sonoma Coast and westernmost Russian River Valley were carefully chosen for their winegrowing merits and also for their singularity. Each allows them the opportunity to craft balanced and distinct wines which will stand out on the dinner table, their wines are reflective of the growing seasons and soils from which they came. In the vineyard sustainable farming practices are followed, dictated by observation and empiricism rather than by prescriptive farming.
All of their vineyard sites are either farmed bio-dynamically or are in the initial stages of being converted to biodynamic farming methods. They believe that biodynamic farming methods, and focused and site-specific attention, give the vines the greatest opportunity to experience each growing season, to respond accordingly, and ultimately to yield grapes with the unmistakable flavours and smells of their time and place.
Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com
Winemaking often comes down to making decisions in critical moments, usually in the heat of battle. John Raytek did exactly that in 2020. With fires threatening, Raytek harvested what he could and dropped as much as half the crop in other sites to push ripening ahead as much as possible. In 2020, Raytek did not bottle any appellation-level wines, preferring to use the best lots for his vineyard designates. Any barrels that did not meet his quality standard were quickly sold off. The result is a truly impressive set of 2020s. The wines are a bit lighter than most years but still full of flavor and character. I can't recommend these wines highly enough.
