2020 Pinot Noir The Return

"You will rarely hear me say this, but in 2021 we felt the fruit needed more time on the vine for the tannins to be fully ripe, so we picked at higher sugars than normal," Ted Lemon explained during a comprehensive tasting of the 2021s and 2020s. "We expected lower yields considering we were in the third year of a drought cycle, but yields turned out to be pretty typical." Harvest started in Anderson Valley, then continued on the Sonoma Coast a week later. In the cellar, Lemon gave the 2021s a bit more time in tank than in most years. As always, most Pinots have some whole cluster influence, but stem inclusion is a consideration made for each wine individually rather than a top-down philosophical choice.

The 2021 Pinots are gorgeous wines, some of the best I have tasted here. There is a purity to the wines that is notable. The 2021s are sometimes a bit richer texturally than the norm here, but it is a style that works so well. In 2020, on the other hand, the wines are a bit lighter. Readers should note Littorai did not bottle any single-vineyard Sonoma Pinots in 2020. For the Chardonnays, 2021 is shaping up to be a brilliant vintage. The young 2021s show tremendous promise. Readers will find a richer, more giving style in the 2020 Chardonnays, which are quite appealing. I tasted all of the wines in this report on a visit in January 2023. At the time, the 2021s were all in tank, some having been racked only recently, as described in the notes, while the 2020s were in bottle. In these two very different years, Ted Lemon and Littorai again show they are at the top of their game.