Ceja Vineyards
2008 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir
Pinot Noir
Sonoma Coast
Mission Briefing
27 Years
As we near the start of our seventh year, we take a moment to reflect back on the thousands of wines that we have showcased, here. When we think of our favorite wineries, those that are first to mind. Ceja is one of those special wineries.
Today, we are so pleased to bring you a complex, delightful Pinot Noir from Ceja. Their 2008 Ceja Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir hails from the wineries Adobe Vineyard.
A little reserved at first, the more this wine is swirled, the more it comes to life. You can also decant for 30 minutes or more to allow it to open up. When the wine does open, it reveals a bold, fresh and very flavorful style of Pinot Noir.
Great with a hearty meal, we’d also recommend this wine be enjoyed in place of cocktails, paired with Charcuterie or mixed cheeses with crackers or a fresh French bread loaf.
For food pairing, we recommend a bacon wrapped pork loin or dark, herb encrusted turkey meat.
Lovers of wonderful Pinot Noir are advised to stock up on this great wine. Salud!
Tasting Profile
| Look: | This wine is the color of brilliant strawberry juice, with a slightly opaque core. Ultra-slim tears fall slowly from high up the glass wall, carrying with them the color of the wine. |
|---|---|
| Smell: | Starts warm and spicy, but settles in with some swirling, revealing delightful aromas of spiced black cherry, roasted plum, espresso, leather, dark wild mushroom, cherry brandy with cinnamon and orange peel. At the very end a hint of forest floor joins in, beautifully rounding out the nose. |
| Taste: | Pronounced, delicious fruit acids, particularly at the edges of the palate. Firm, integrated tannins provide solid backbone, driving flavors cranberry, smoky cherry, stewed plum with ginger, and red fruit preserves to the far corners of the mouth. |
| Finish: | Long and flavorful, with pronounced cherry that slowly gives way to an evolving dryness with woodland tannin with Darjeeling tea. |
| Pairing: |
What the Winery Says
Tasting Notes
Wild berry, pretty plum, cola and earthy raspberry.
Vintage
2008
Varietal
Pinot Noir
Alcohol
13.9%
Appellation
Sonoma Coast
Vineyard Designation
Sonoma Coast Adobe Vineyard
About the Winery
Ceja Vineyards is an ultra premium Latino family owned winery founded by Amelia, Pedro, Armando and Martha Ceja – first generation Mexican-American winegrowers in the Napa and Sonoma Valleys. Our dedication to sustainable agriculture and the gentle handling of the grapes in the cellar can be tasted in every sip of our estate wines. We proudly continue a three-generation tradition of growing choice grapes in the beautiful Napa and Sonoma Valleys. We invite you to join us on our journey.
Winemaker Armando Ceja
If you’ve tasted Ceja Vineyards’ award-winning wines, you already know a lot about Armando Ceja: honest, tasteful, intelligent, full of life and the flavor of the Napa Valley. Capturing the essence and feeling of this special place is for him an instinctive art because he grew up in its vineyards, savoring its best fruit, and learning from the best in the business. He knows its terroir in a way few winemakers do.
But then few Napa Valley winemakers have had the advantages Armando has. Being born into a seasonal farm worker’s family and relocating, often on short notice, to various parts of the Napa Valley, a single whiff of spring grass can take him back to the hill above Rutherford where the earth gave that particular scent to the landscape. He counts as advantages, too, a mother and grandmother who took pleasure in cooking and in the vocabulary of aromas and tastes, and working beside a top-flight vineyard worker—his father—from the age of six.
His joie de vivre is reflected in the wines he crafts from the Ceja family estate vineyards—vineyards he knows as both viticulturist and winemaker. After earning an associate degree in chemistry, he graduated in 1985 from UC Davis with a BSc in enology. From there, he worked at Kenwood Vineyards in both winemaking and vineyard management before joining the management team at the Christian Brothers winery on Mt. Veeder.
Vineyard Notes
Located approximately 40 miles northeast of San Francisco, the Carneros Region’s moderate climate is created by fog, moist air, and cool breezes from the Pacific Ocean. Protected from harsh weather by the Coastal Range, Carneros summer days are warm with cool nights and winters are mild. As a result, grapes stay on the vine longer, reaching high acidity and full flavor development.
At Ceja Vineyards, we match vines to terroir, planting each variety where it grows best. Our wines are a true reflection of their origins.