Littorai: The First Thirty Years
BY ANTONIO GALLONI |
From humble beginnings in the early 1990s, Ted and Heidi Lemon quietly built one of the most impressive wineries in the United States. Along the way they influenced countless younger winemakers and spearheaded the development of what are now vibrant winegrowing communities in Anderson Valley and the West Sonoma Coast.
This report combines tasting notes and impressions from two recent tastings. The first set of wines was part of the 30th anniversary tastings Littorai recently hosted, showcasing their wines all the way back to the early days. Revisiting 18 wines directly from the estate’s cellar was quite a revelation. Those notes are augmented by an equally eye-opening vertical of 2016s that was one of the featured tastings at our Vinous Icons event in February 2025. To that I add my perspectives from visiting Littorai and tasting with Ted Lemon every January over the last 15 years or so.
Littorai has long been admired for a philosophy that is all about elegance, vibrancy and understatement. In some circles the not-so-subtle implication is that wines made with this approach are inherently more pedigreed than opulent, richer wines. I do not share that view. As a young student at Berklee, I was trained to appreciate all styles of music, and then to understand the nuances and details within each style. That’s an approach I have carried over to how I think about wine. The Littorai wines aren’t reference points because they are made from sustainably farmed vineyards or with a light hand in the cellar. They are reference points because they embody the single most important attribute vineyard-designate wines must convey: deep, profound expressions of place.
Heidi and Ted Lemon at Compline in Napa after a
presentation of their wines dating back to 1995.
In the Right Place at the Right Time
Ted Lemon has without question lived one of the most extraordinary careers in wine. Originally from Bedford, New York, Lemon’s first exposure to France came at the age of 15, when he spent a year abroad living and studying in Burgundy during high school. Lemon majored in French literature at Brown University. A semester abroad at the University of Dijon proved to be pivotal. It was here that Lemon took a wine appreciation class and became interested in wine. Lemon returned to France in 1980 and studied viticulture and winemaking in Dijon.
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From humble beginnings in the early 1990s, Ted and Heidi Lemon quietly built one of the most impressive wineries in the United States. Along the way they influenced countless younger winemakers and spearheaded the development of what are now vibrant winegrowing communities in the West Sonoma Coast and Anderson Valley. This report combines tasting notes and impressions from two recent tastings of mostly older vintages, wines that capture all the beauty and pedigree of some of the best sites in both appellations.