Littorai Hirsch Vineyard Pinot Noir 2018
- Vintage
- 2018
- Country
- USA
- Region
- US-North Coast,Sonoma Coast
- Size
- 750ml
- Grapes
- Pinot Noir
- Rating
- WA94+
The 2018 Pinot Noir Hirsch Vineyard is beautifully expressive, with a delicate frame and classic flavors. The nose offers fresh black fruits with touches of tea leaves, mushroom and tar, and the palate is earthy and perfumed, with a pleasant chalkiness and long, uplifted finish. This will improve with another couple years in bottle. Drink:2020~2027 - WA94+
Rose petal, horehound, oak bark tea (only a biodynamic winemaker would use a descriptor like that…), tobacco, decaying leaves, orange zest and a hint of red licorice. Great aromatic complexity. For some reason this made me think of the wines of Nuits St. Georges. With air it opens to fresh tones of cherry, alpine strawberries and flowers. Very flamboyant, personalitydriven wine. Excellent tannin and acidity concentration with a fine thread of whole cluster tannins throughout. Classic potential. - Winemaker's Notes
Littorai is a small, family-owned producer in Sonoma focusing on Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The estate makes a range of single-vineyard wines from these two varieties, sourced from a range of contract growers, leased vineyards and estate vines in the Sonoma Coast and Anderson Valley AVAs.
The estate was founded in 1993 by Heidi and Ted Lemon. Combined, they brought experience from numerous stop estates including Romanée-Conti, Dujac and Georges Roumier as well as Domaine Chandon and Stag's Leap Cellars.
The Lemons bought a 12 hectare (30 acre) farm in western Sonoma County in 2003. Only around 2ha (5 acres) of this is planted to vines, with the remainder devoted to pasture with cows and hay for compost, and to undeveloped streams and woods. The estate vines, which make the Pivot Pinot Noir, are farmed without fertilizers according to biodynamic principles.
Littorai's winery building, completed in 2008, is made from insulating reinforced straw bales, with natural ventilation for temperature control. Juice and wine is transported via gravity to prevent excess oxidation and preserve the phenolic compounds. - Information from Wine Searcher