2012 Littorai Pinot Noir Roman Vineyard
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Tasting notes
The 2012 Pinot Noir Roman Vineyard comes from the coolest part of the Anderson Valley, 2.3 miles south of Navarro. It pours a deeper shade of red, relatively speaking, and is an exceptional wine in the range. It offers captivating elegance and depth, with notes of wild raspberries, fresh forest earth, graphite, and floral perfume. It’s seamless on the palate, with ripe tannins, outstanding depth and clarity, great structure, and a mineral-textured finish. As it opens, it continues to gain in complexity. While it’s stunning now, I imagine that it can easily age another 15 or more years if stored in a cool cellar. The 2023 vintage marks the 30-year milestone for the Littorai family estate, and this tasting covers 21 wines from 1993 through 2023. Except for the 1993 Pinot Noir One Acre, all of the wines for this retrospective were tasted at the end of May in New York at Union Square Cafe. Readers can find the complete range of current releases in my regional report on Sonoma.
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Jancis Robinson MW
Jancis Robinson MW
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2012 was an especially warm, ripe vintage, similar to 2009. “I wanted to show 2009 next to 2012, the riper vintages,” Ted Lemon explains, noting that the 2009 One Acre Pinot Noir shows more richness and opulence. Nonetheless, this 2012 Pinot Noir Roman Vineyard is drinking beautifully, striking a fine balance between primary fruit and tertiary maturity. It offers scents of dried red and black berries and plums, mushroom powder, iron and earth. The medium- to full-bodied palate is powerfully styled with concentrated, layered flavors, gently rustic tannins and good freshness. Enjoy it over the next decade.
The site is 2.3 miles south-east of Navarro in the coolest part of the Anderson Valley. The vineyard sits at 1,150 ft of elevation on a saddle of land looking due south. The tiny knoll breaks both east and west and sits like a bubble overlooking the valley below. The soils are typical of upland Anderson Valley: 18 in of sandy loam above soft sandstone. Planted in 1999, this site is farmed using organic and biodynamic methods but is not certified. Free-run juice from a combination of destemmed fruit and roughly 30% whole clusters ferments with ambient yeasts in a combination of steel and wood, utilising both punchdowns and pumpovers, with the wines pressed at dryness. Aged for 14–17 months in 20–25% new French oak on the lees with no racking. Bottled unfined and unfiltered. 167 cases produced. Medium garnet with ruby highlights. Smells of wet earth, forest floor, raspberries and raspberry leaf. Bright forest-floor, raspberry and raspberry-leaf flavours are wrapped in a cloud of cotton-ball tannins that stiffen with more time. Intense acidity and great length, with floral notes and liquorice root lingering in the finish with a hint of redwood bark. (AY)
A well-aged yet still muscular and lively wine. Lively acidity and moderate tannins lift savory and black-fruit flavors, such as baked cherries, together with sour cherries, bay leaves and green peppercorns on the palate. Full-bodied, mouth-filling and almost smoky in its autumnal flavors. Drink now. Littorai retrospective tasting May 2025.
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.