2011 Pinot Noir Cerise Vineyard

Readers will find a number of compelling Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs in this wide range of wines from Littorai. Proprietor Ted Lemon is one of this country's iconic producers. In particular, his Pinots are super-impressive, transparent and bursting with crystalline energy. Long-time Littorai fans know Lemon spent two years as the winemaker at Domaine Roulot in the early 1980s and also worked at Domaine Dujac, both experiences that have clearly marked his style. The 2012 harvest started on September 7 at Hirsch end ended on October 5, when the Heinz Chardonnay was brought in. The Chardonnays spent about 12 months in oak followed by 4 months in steel, which is where they were when I tasted them. Bottling is scheduled for February 2014. The 2012 Pinots were vinified with some whole clusters, about 20-25% for the Cerise, Savoy and Mays Canyon, while the rest of the Pinots were done with just a dollop (0-5%) of stems. Most of the 2012 Pinots were still in barrel at the time of my January 2014 visit, although a few wines were in barrel. Native fermentations and moderate amounts of new oak (25-30%) are the norm. Most importantly of all, vineyards are farmed with meticulous attention to detail. Unfortunately I was not able to taste the 2012 Savoy, as it been racked just prior to my visit. I did have a chance to revisit the 2011s from bottle. The Chardonnays showed pretty much as I expected, but there was more variability with the Pinots. Some of the 2011 Pinots appear to still be tight post-bottling (The Haven), while others, the One Acre and Pivot appear to be maturing a little faster than I thought they would. On the other hand, the 2011 Hirsch has turned out even better than I had expected. The Littorai range encompasses first-rate vineyards in Anderson Valley, Russian River Valley and Sonoma Coast, many of which are California's versions of Grand Crus. Readers who want to discover what the essence of terroir in California is should start here. In many, if not most, of these sites Ted Lemon makes the reference-point wine.

There is no doubt in my mind Littorai is one of this country's crown jewel wineries. Proprietor Ted Lemon has the magic touch with both Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Readers will find a large number of fabulous wines in both 2010 and 2011. Simply put, this is a superb set of new and upcoming releases from a California icon. The 2010s are a product of a generally cold year marked by significant disease pressure during the middle of the growing season and two significant heat spikes that followed in late August and September. Ted Lemon told me the Chardonnay was more affected by sunburn than the Pinot, and required considerable sorting. The vintage was not without its challenges for the Pinot, however, as the One Acre and Platt were declassified to the Les Larmes and Sonoma Coast bottlings respectively, neither of which I tasted. The harvest was a little late for the Pinot, but very late for the Chardonnay.

Unlike some of his colleagues on the Sonoma side, veteran winemaker Ted Lemon favors pinot noir in 2011 because he felt more pressured to pick his chardonnay.He describes the new set of wines as "less floral and elegant than the 2010s, but with good density.The rains in October caused a hiccup."Lemon added that he was worried about growers who rushed to bring in their crop ahead of forecasted rains.He vinified a few more of his pinots with whole clusters in 2011s than he had in 2010 with the idea that the fruit in '11 had healthy acidity and low pHs and could therefore handle the pH-raising effects of fermenting with whole clusters without requiring acidification.Alcohol levels in the finished wine are mostly in the very moderate 12.9% to 13.2% range in 2011.