Littorai: Mays Canyon Chardonnay 2022

The story of Ted Lemon – founder and winemaker of Littorai – is absolutely unique. After studying viticulture, at just 25 years old he became the first American ever to be the cellar master of a Burgundy estate. And not just anywhere, but at the legendary Domaine Roulot in Meursault.

He then worked with the assembled elite of Burgundy, including: Dujac, Roumier, and Bruno Clair. This was between the 1970s and 1990s. Then Ted Lemon returned to his homeland, where in 1993 he founded Littorai in Sonoma together with his wife. Naturally, his thinking and work are deeply influenced by his Burgundy training. The focus is on Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, contrary to the American approach with single-vineyard bottlings true to individual parcels. He is a fanatic supporter of the European terroir concept and does not believe in the American branding model. Accordingly, he applied his knowledge of soils and sites from Burgundy to California’s cooler coastal region and for years selected only the very best vineyards, planting them with the finest Burgundy vine selections. Unlike the completely fixed Burgundy, it is still possible here to discover and cultivate countless untapped vineyard treasures. 

Already in the 1990s, it was virtually impossible to get good sites as a newcomer on the Côte d’Or. That was one of the reasons for his return to the USA. Here he could draw on an apparently unlimited variety of terroirs. He mainly chose steep sites in cool climate environments that naturally allow low yields and only marginal ripening, just like in Burgundy. He found success in the cooler coastal regions of the Sonoma Coast and the emerging Anderson Valley.

Another cornerstone of Littorai's production, alongside the terroir concept, is biodynamics. There are hardly any more fanatical biodynamic practitioners in the USA than Ted Lemon. In 2003, an estate building with an attached farm was established to fully implement the biodynamic concept of a closed production cycle. Animals are kept for their own fertilizer and to graze the weeds. The biodynamic preparations are made from herbs grown on the estate. With his quite unusual concept for California of cultivation based on an uncompromising terroir and biodynamic philosophy, Ted has been and remains one of the most influential winemakers in the USA and a highly sought-after consultant. 

His wines are always characterized by Burgundian finesse and elegance. They stand for clarity, focus, precision, and above all, transparency in vineyard typicity. These are not typical representatives of the classic style but pioneers of New California, meaning freshness and cool elegance from steep vineyards with maritime influence and marginal ripening conditions. Nevertheless, we naturally have the rich, seductive fruit and the velvety phenolic ripeness that can only be achieved in California. All Pinots undergo cold maceration and everything is completely spontaneously fermented. After aging, the wines are bottled directly from the lees without fining or filtration. Purity and clarity are central. Robert Parker also praises the wines highly: "All of Littorai's bottlings are faithful, reductive, elegant representatives that are undoubtedly the result of his Burgundian winemaking experience at Domaine Roulot." There is really little more to add except perhaps an encouragement to try these wines—without any reservations about wines from California—and to convince yourself of their cool, unique elegance. They are among the most beautiful Pinot Noirs in the USA and regularly receive ratings on the level of the very best Burgundies.