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| "There is no doubt in my mind that Littorai is one of this country’s crown jewel wineries. Proprietor Ted Lemon has the magic touch with both Chardonnay and Pinot Noir .... A California icon."
Antonio Galloni, Vinous |
| | | | | "The simple version of Ted Lemon's story: Young American goes to Burgundy. Becomes first American to run a Burgundian wine estate [at Domaine Roulot]. Comes back and stays true to Pinot's motherland.
That would be the easy version, but it misses a crucial fact. For a quarter-century, Lemon has been hunting along the remote California coast, seeking places that speak absolutely of their roots and making wines that purely reflect a California sense of place. 'Being a slave to Europe is as much a mistake as saying that super-ripe California is a great expression,' Lemon says. 'You'll never hear what the land is saying if you just say, 'In Europe, they do this.'' Few winemakers are as committed as Lemon to the sanctity of California terroir. He is a true believer in its potential - specifically in the ability, along a coastal stretch of Sonoma and Mendocino counties, to find unique sites for exceptional grapes.
His quest provided the name for the 4,000-case winery he and his wife, Heidi, founded: Littorai, a plural of the Latin for ‘coasts.’ Littorai wines are among the purest, most long-lasting expressions of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in the New World. They have earned Lemon a reputation not as a Burgundian interpreter of California, but as a true American master. It is why Ted Lemon is The Chronicle's [2010] Winemaker of the Year."
Jon Bonné, San Francisco Chronicle
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| | | Ted Lemon with Marcel Fichet at Domaine Roulot, 1980s |
| | "I was totally blown away by the wines I tasted with proprietor Ted Lemon. These are some of the most refined, polished Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs being made in California today. I can’t recommend the wines highly enough."
Antonio Galloni, Vinous |
| | "All of the Littorai offerings, made by Ted Lemon, are nuanced, restrained, elegant efforts that are no doubt the result of his Burgundian winemaking experience at Domaine Roulot."
Robert M. Parker, Jr., Wine Advocate |
| | ‣ "This is right at the top of the hill (900-ft elevation) and has a fresh, red-cherry and red-berry nose with freshly cut herbs, as well as complex, earthy and savory notes. Blood oranges and pink grapefruit, too. Very distinctive. The palate has a very plush and enveloping feel with such long, supple tannins that really fill out the finish. This has volume and chasmic length. One of the highlights of the vintage at Littorai. Drink or hold."
96 JamesSuckling.com
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| | | | ‣ "The 2015 Pinot Noir Cerise Vineyard is endowed with serious fruit density and tons of pure power. Succulent red cherry, plum, lavender, cloves, new leather and licorice all flesh out in this potent, virile Anderson Valley Pinot. A dense, full-bodied wine, the Cerise is going to need time to come into its own, but it is super-impressive and vivid, even in the early going. The balance of fruit and tannin is one of the many things make the Cerise compelling.
My annual visit with Ted Lemon was one of the highlights of the ten days I spent in Sonoma earlier this year. The range of single-vineyard Pinots and Chardonnays are essays into the great terroirs of the Sonoma Coast and Anderson Valley. The 2016 Pinots are stunning for their aromatic depth and crystalline precision, while the 2015s, from a richer vintage, are quite different in style, but every bit as compelling. Readers will find two superb back-to-back vintages in the Littorai 2016 and 2015 Pinots." 96
Antonio Galloni, Vinous |
| | | | ‣ "The 2016 Pinot Noir Thieriot Vineyard Estate is fabulous. Bright, perfumed and finely sculpted, the Thieriot captures all the potential I sensed last year when I tasted it from barrel. As always, the Thieriot is a wine of tension, power and salivating energy. More than that though, the Thieriot oozes character.
As usual, Ted Lemon offers terrific perspective that comes from both experience and working across a number of sites in both Sonoma and Anderson Valley. Lemon told me he saw more fruit that needed to be sorted out because of heat in Anderson Valley than in Sonoma. '2017 was a warm year,' Ted Lemon opined. 'But I also saw many days with wider temperature gradients from coastal to inland sites than I am used to.' As for the wines, they are superb." Antonio Galloni, Vinous
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| | | Continue the hunt at retail:
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| | | Spectrum Wine Santa Ana (HQ)
• Santa Ana, California
www.SpectrumWine.com
Phone: 949-748-4845
Fax: 949-567-1360
Hours:
Mon - Sun, 10:00am - 6:00pm
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| | Spectrum Wine Newport Beach
• Newport Beach, California
www.SpectrumWine.com/Storage
Address:
865 Production Pl
Newport Beach CA 92663-2809
USA
Hours:
Tue - Sat, 10:00am - 5:00pm, By Appointment |
| | Spectrum Wine Hong Kong
• Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
www.SpectrumWine.com
Phone: 852-2116-1103
Email: Carmen.Lee@SpectrumWine.com
Address:
Room 1603, 16/FMiramar Tower
132 Nathan Rd
Tsim Sha Tsui
Hong Kong
Hours:Mon - Fri, By Appointment |
| | Spectrum Wine Minneapolis
• Minneapolis, Minnesota
www.SpectrumWine.com
Phone: 949-748-4845 x 302
Address:
Minneapolis MN
Hours: Mon - Fri, By Appointment |
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