2023 Littorai Pinot Noir Les Larmes
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Tasting notes
When the One Acre vineyard got phylloxera, it was replanted and bottled for the first few years as 'Les Larmes' along with two rows of fruit from Wendling. The wine was so popular that it continues to be made, now consisting of free-run juice from two rows of Wendling vineyard fruit as well as press juice from One Acre, Wendling, Roman and Savoy. As a blend of different sites, it is approximately 30% whole-cluster fermented with ambient yeasts in a combination of steel and wood, utilising both punchdowns and pumpovers, with the wines pressed at dryness. Aged for 9–10 months in 10–15% new French oak on the lees with no racking. Bottled unfined and unfiltered. 600 cases produced. Aromas of bright cherry and raspberry fruit. Juicy flavours of sour cherry and raspberry are lithe with great energy as powdery tannins coat the mouth and linger with cherry and raspberry notes and citrus-peel brightness. (AY)
Critic scores
Jancis Robinson MW
About the producer
Littorai stands as one of California’s most quietly influential estates, defined by organic and biodynamic farming, site transparency, and a restrained, Burgundian sensibility.