2021 Littorai Chardonnay The Tributary

The 2021 Chardonnay The Tributary Estate Vineyard brings together so many of the classic Littorai signatures. Rich, deep and yet also incredibly elegant, the 2021 possesses notable power. Smaller berries and low yields produced a wine of tremendous distinction and textural resonance. This is pure class. Superb.

The 2021 Chardonnay The Tributary Estate Vineyard is all class. There is a feeling of transparency in the 2021 that is so alluring. Hints of tangerine oil, white flowers and citrus confit open with a bit of coaxing, but it is the wine's energy I admire most.

A pale and brilliant straw hue, the 2021 Chardonnay The Tributary Vineyard is lifted with fresh saline, crushed stones, chamomile, white pepper, and green apple. Medium to full-bodied, it reveals more ripeness and a soft texture, with melon, soft citrus, and a floral perfume that lasts. Long on the palate, it’s attractive now or can be enjoyed over the next ten years. 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, and I met with him at the winery this May. 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.