Littorai is the California Pinot Noir for Burgundy lovers. Ted Lemon was the first American in charge of a Burgundy estate at Guy Rulot after the sudden passing of Guy. He went on to work... Read More

Littorai is the California Pinot Noir for Burgundy lovers. Ted Lemon was the first American in charge of a Burgundy estate at Guy Rulot after the sudden passing of Guy. He went on to work with Bruno Clair, Dujac and Roumier. Lucky for us, those experiences did not go to waste. Ted started Littorai in 1993 with his wife Heidi and is now, arguably, California's best winemaker.

Ted and Heidi now produce a series of single vineyard Pinot Noir and Chardonnays (plus one regional blend of each grape) in miniscule amounts. All of the grapes are farmed to Ted's specifications, attempting to mirrior his biodynamic home vineyard, Pivot.

The wines are about as low intervention as you can get. After thorough sorting, bunches and destemmed berries are pressed, with the ratio depending on what the vintage dictates, into large neutral tanks for a long, slow fermentation with wild yeasts. The juice is racked into barrels where it sits, nearly undisturbed with an occasional top up if required for up to two years. Wines are carefully racked of their lees and touch of sulphur is added before bottling. That's it.

The resulting wines are nothing less than profound. Year in and year out these are my favorite Pinot Noir's outside of Burgundy and in some vintages maybe better. Each wine clearly expreses the nuance and harmnony of the terroir, with a character that can only be described as "precisely alive".