2022 Pinot Noir Hirsch Vineyard
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Tasting notes
The 2022 Pinot Noir Hirsch Vineyard is a deep red color and offers notes of dark cherries, savory herbs, and dark toasted spice. It floats on the palate with a stony, mineral texture and is one of my favorites in this lineup. It will drink well for the next 20 years. The year 2025 marks the 30th anniversary for Littorai. Heidi and Ted Lemon operate Littorai from their Gold Ridge Estate in Sebastapol, where they produce Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from exceptional cool-climate vineyard sites on the Sonoma Coast and in Anderson Valley. Ted is, hands down, one of Sonoma's most important farmers and winemakers today. Though they farm biodynamically, they prefer to describe their practices in the vineyards as “generative farming,” a term intended to include the human relationship to the stewardship and shaping of the land as part of modern nature and integrated farming. In the winery, all the wines undergo spontaneous fermentations, with the reds going through two to three weeks of fermentation, and although Ted is not dogmatic in his approach, each of the wines is raised similarly. All of the wines for this report were tasted at the estate.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jeb Dunnuck
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
More reviews and scores
Fruit for the 2022 Pinot Noir Hirsch Vineyard was picked just before the Labor Day heat wave, on September 2 and 4. It has ringing aromas of cranberry, raspberry, red licorice, saline, floral perfume and spice. The medium-bodied palate is silky and ethereal with crunchy, perfumed flavors, silky tannins, fireworks of fresh acidity and a long, botanical-laced finish. 200 cases were made.
The 2022 Pinot Noir Hirsch Vineyard is a fabulous wine off this well-known site in Fort Ross-Seaview. Inky, deep and structured, the 2022 dazzles from start to finish. It's an extroverted wine with plenty of fruit to fill out its large-scaled frame. Even so, the tannins are rather imposing in the early going. Give this time.
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.