Ceritas Wines

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Located in Healdsburg, the heart of the Californian wine country, Ceritas Wines is a small but beautiful "family" run business run by John Raytek and Phoebe Bass.

Simplicity is John and Phoebe's favorite word to describe their approach to viticulture; it is here that man before act learns to listen to the vineyard. This is the case in the cellar, where no dogmas or particular methods are followed, but rather where the work is carried out according to the following methods The right amount of flexibility is added to the traditional ones.

Particular attention is paid to the enhancement of old vineyards naturally predisposed to to confer low yields. Ceritas works small plots from the denominations of Sonoma Coast and Santa Cruz Mountains where the Pinot Noir and the Chardonnay give wines of great expressiveness, freshness and elegance.

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Zephyr Chardonnay

Perched above the Freestone Valley sits the Zephyr vineyard smack in the bulleye of the coastal influences flowing between the Bodega Headlands and the Sebastopol Hills. Cold air sweeps across the low lying coastal hills bringing in moisture-laden fog and scents of sea spray. The meager sandstone soils with little to no topsoil restrict the growth of the vines here bringing near-perfect balance to the small crop which they need to ripen. This is the last Chardonnay site that we harvest in the West Sonoma Coast, a full two weeks after Porter-Bass, Charles Heintz and Carex. Savory and briny with notes of green tea and star jasmine. This is an exotic version of Chardonnay unlike any of our other wines.

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Elliot Vineyard - Pinot Noir

With slightly less clay than at neighboring Hellenthal vineyard, these shale soils are intermixed with decomposed marine sediments. No soil amendments are added, enabling the soil to impart its pure influence upon the vines. Organically and dry-farmed by the Hellenthal family, this vineyard straddles the ridge of parent rock, giving it the unique position of facing both north and south.

Trout Gulch Chardonnay

Trout Gulch sits a mere 2.5 miles from the ocean just outside the village of Aptos in the southern Santa Cruz Mountains at over 750 feet elevation. The vineyard was planted in 1977 to Old Wente selection Mt. Eden. Uplifted oceanic sandy soils create a unique drainage sending the vines deep into marine derived sub-soils. Vines are north facing.

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