2010 Littorai Pinot Noir Hirsch Vineyard

Littorai’s 2010 Pinot Noir Hirsch Vineyard is remarkably weightless and gracious in this vintage, most likely because of the inclusion of 25% whole clusters. Dried cherries, tobacco, savory herbs, autumn leaves, licorice and herbs all take shape in the glass. The Hirsch is undeniably beautiful, but the stem component is not as seamlessly integrated as it is in the very best other wines in this range, which might be an issue for some palates more than others. There is no shortage of distinctiveness, though. Anticipated maturity: 2013-2020. 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. Littorai’s 2011s are some of the most intriguing wines of that difficult year. The Chardonnays are unique and compelling, largely because the presence of botrytis gives the wines an element of exoticism and texture that is atypical. The Pinots are wonderfully transparent expressions of some of the top sites in the Sonoma Coast and Anderson Valley. Lemon adds that, while he is typically among the first to pick, in 2011 he was among the last, as the fruit took a very long time to ripen under the cool conditions of the year. In 2011, the percentage of whole clusters in the Pinot is lower across the board than in 2010. As always, the Littorai wines are farmed naturally, vinified with natural yeasts, see minimal handling and are generally bottled without fining and filtration. Tel. (707) 823-9586

Medium red. Reduced aromas of raspberry, black tea and earth. Bigger and broader than the Cerise, showing more texture but less sweetness of fruit today. I would have picked this blind as Burgundy. Sappy, savory, soil-driven wine with a classically dry, lightly dusty finish.