2022 Littorai Pinot Noir Savoy Vineyard
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Tasting notes
The 2022 Pinot Noir Savoy Vineyard is a pure ruby color and has a bit more depth in its notes of raspberry fruit and fresh flowers. A ripe red with a rocky, gravelly texture, it’s medium-bodied and has good freshness and just a hint of warmth. Drink 2025-2040. 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
Littorai has been purchasing fruit from the Savoy Vineyard since 1995; it was originally planted in the early 1990s. “After 2020, the yields plummeted,” Ted Lemon explains. “We have 28 years of Savoy cluster weights, and you can see the average consistently go down. We used to drop half the crop most years—that’s done. They’re still going but certainly they are dry farmed, more mature vines. But I think that’s why there’s a lot of stuffing in it now.” In 2022, the Savoy grapes were picked just as the heat wave set in, on September 8 and 12. The 2022 Pinot Noir Savoy Vineyard has broody aromas of dark berry fruit, mushrooms, forest floor, mossy bark and Fernet. The palate offers powerful flavors framed by dusty tannins and vibrant acidity, and it has a long, energetic finish. It will benefit from some time in a decanter. 420 cases were made.
The 2022 Pinot Noir Savoy Vineyard is a total charmer. Pliant, easygoing and beautifully open-knit, the 2022 will drink well right out of the gate. Vibrant red/purplish fruit, blood orange, spice and rose petal all grace this mid-weight, nuanced Anderson Valley Pinot. The Savoy is among the first wines I would open in this collection of 2022s.
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.