2017 Pinot Noir One Acre

As always, I tasted two full vintages at Littorai with Ted Lemon. The 2018 Pinots, all of which are still in barrel, are shaping up to be truly special. That is evident from the first wine in the tasting, the Savoy Pinot. Lemon told me he used more whole clusters than ever before in 2018. In tasting, the wines are marked by an extreme sense of transparency. Sadly, the Cerise Pinot fell victim to smoke taint. That is pretty much the only unfortunate event of 2018. I found the Chardonnays much more reticent than the Pinots. Those wines are in tank, and my impression is that those wines are going through a dumb phase. It happens. The bottled 2017s have largely turned out as I had expected. Overall, the wines are strong, although there is no getting around the challenges of the heat, especially in some of the Pinots. The Chardonnays generally fared better.

As usual, Ted Lemon offers terrific perspective that comes from both experience and working across a number of sites in both Sonoma and Anderson Valley. Lemon told me he saw more fruit that needed to be sorted out because of heat in Anderson Valley than in Sonoma. "Two thousand seventeen was a warm year," Ted Lemon opined. "But I also saw many days with wider temperature gradients from coastal to inland sites than I am used to." As for the wines, they are superb. Among the 2017s, my impression is that the Pinots have a bit more potential than the Chardonnays. The Wendling in particular is shaping up to be a real gem. The bottled 2016s have turned out as I had expected.